Power uprates like this have added over 23 gigawatts of extra nuclear generating capacity over the years…
TVA is boosting the Unit 3 Browns Ferry reactor by 14% to add 155 megawatts to the approximately 1,100 megawatt unit. The other two reactors will follow suit. The Times Free Press out of Chattanooga reports:
Similar upgrades are planned on the two other units at Browns Ferry as part of a $475 million program to boost overall power by 465 megawatts by the spring of 2019.
The extra power from the Extended Power Uprate, or EPU, is projected to produce enough additional electricity to power 280,000 more homes and will help TVA boost the share of power it gets from its nuclear power plants to 40 percent.
Normally employing about 900 workers, the article reports that the staffing level will swell to over 2,100 to support the outage.
Browns Ferry, Unit 3 went online in 1977 and is licensed for operation until 2036.