Sequoyah Nuclear plant prepares for a planned refueling outage
It start Sunday and will last twice as long as usual.
More than two thousand workers from all over the country are in town to help with the project, which includes replacing the steam generators in Unit 2.
We went on a tour at the plant today to see the work that will be done.
As news 12s Nordia Epps reports the focus is on keeping everybody safe.
Marie Gillman, Project Manager, "When the machine is actually cutting through the concrete we don't have anybody in the vicinity just to make sure its safe."
The manager of the project shows us how the work will be done.
It's an intricate project that will take 90 days and nearly 3,000 people.
The refueling outage starts Sunday and will last 73 days...twice as long as normal.
Paul Simmons, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Station Manager, "During this period of time our focus is going to be on safety safety of our people making sure that our workforce is working safe that is our number one priority and then also the safety of our plant and how we maintain that safety margin relative to how we protect the people of the public we serve."
The new steam generators came from Korea and were ordered in 2007.
Workers have been practicing removing the old ones and putting in the new ones on mock machinery.
Gillman, "Anything and everything that we can do to minimize the dose that our workers get and to improve their safety we invest in the technology here."
Twenty-one hundred guest workers from all over the world will help with the project.
John Carlin, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, "They're taking advantage of our things here to do in this area they're eating at our restaurants they're staying in our hotels and motels so it's an economic stimulus for the area and they're going to be here for almost all of those people for the full 90 days."
This will be the TVA's third steam generator replacement project.
Successful replacements have happened at Sequoyah and Watts Bar.
For five days people who live near the plant will hear what sounds like a jet engine.
It will be the pressurized water machine cutting the concrete.
