Tennessee Valley Authority now making power and nuclear weapons material - Risk to all

Commercial nuclear reactor in Tennessee begins making bomb material
DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, October 22, 2003
(10-22) 14:39 PDT KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) --

The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant has resumed operation -- making it the only commercial nuclear station in the United States producing both electricity for homes and factories and isotopes for bombs.

The single-reactor station, owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, was listed at 44 percent of full power and ascending Wednesday, said John Moulton, a TVA spokesman.

"It is operating as it should," he said.

Since early September, TVA workers have been installing tritium-producing rods in the reactor while it was being refueled; the plant went back on line Monday night.

Tritium, a hydrogen isotope that enhances the explosive force of thermonuclear weapons, is required for every warhead in the U.S. arsenal.

The government hasn't made tritium since 1988 when its production reactors at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina were closed for operational and safety problems. Meanwhile, the short-lived material was recycled from older weapons.

The Energy Department will begin tapping into its five-year tritium reserve by 2005 without a new supply, although arms control needs could change that.

Despite opposition from private and public sectors, federal and TVA officials say the Watts Bar plant is safe and secure.

"TVA is committed to safe, reliable nuclear operations," TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough said. "And the production of tritium will in no way compromise that commitment."

Spring City is about 50 miles south of Knoxville.



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Tennessee Valley Authority: http://www.tva.gov/