Bechtel Wins Watts Bar

When completed in 2012, Watts Bar Unit 2 will add approximately 1,200 megawatts of power to the TVA system, enough to serve 650,000 homes. Work on the original plant was stopped in 1985, when it was about two-thirds complete.

The five-year, $2.5 billion project will bring the plant up to all current engineering and safety standards. It will employ about 2,300 workers during construction and add about 250 permanent workers for operation of the plant. The project will also provide economic benefit to the area through regional purchases of supplies and services.

TVA, the nation’s largest public power provider, selected Bechtel after a comprehensive competitive bidding process. Bechtel previously supplied engineering, start-up, and other technical services to the successful $1.8 billion restart of TVA’s Browns Ferry Unit 1, the first nuclear unit to come online in the United States in the 21st century.  Bechtel also worked for TVA on the restart of Browns Ferry Units 2 and 3 in the 1990s, and performed steam generator replacements on unit 1 at TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant and Watts Bar Unit 1.

Bechtel Power has been a leader in commercial nuclear engineering and construction since 1955. It provided engineering, construction, design, and/or management services at 88 of 104 U.S. nuclear units and on more than 150 nuclear units worldwide. Additionally, Bechtel has 34 steam generator replacement projects underway or completed, and has performed 8 reactor pressure vessel head replacements.

“We are honored to be selected by TVA for this historic assignment,” said Jim Reinsch, president of Bechtel’s nuclear power business. “This cost-effective project will provide clean, safe, and reliable power for TVA’s customers and demonstrate the importance of nuclear power as contributor to meeting America’s energy needs in the coming decades.”

Non-craft workers interested in employment on the project may apply through Bechtel’s Web site at https://jobs.bechtel.com/. Potential suppliers and subcontractors may register at the Bechtel Supplier portal.

For more information, contact:
Francis Canavan 
Media Relations Manager 
1-301-228-8950 
[email protected]

For additional information, see TVA's press release.