We got a rare look inside the nuclear reactor at Watts Bar Friday morning.
TVA Spokesman Ray Golden said, "Right behind me is the head of the nuclear reactor for unit number 2, which is still under construction."
TVA officials took the opportunity after the tour to update the progress of Unit Number 2.
Senior VP of Nuclear Construction Mike Skaggs said, "We're tracking to the schedule that says our most likely completion date of December 2015 is good."
Start Up and Completions Manager Robert Beecken added, "There's all sorts of milestones along the way as we enter from bulk construction to all these big testing activities to get done in order to certify the plant."
Officials say Unit 2 should translate to less expensive electricity.
Golden said, "Behind our hydro-electric power, our dams, this is the second second cheapest form of electricity we have."
But first the $4.2 billion total cost has to be paid off. Golden says that's about half the cost of two planned nuclear plants in Georgia. He said, "What TVA is really doing here is taking advantage of capital investments that have already been made if we don't finish this plant and bring it online, then you get no benefit from it."
But there are challenges. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an order that the plant be able to store spent fuel on-site. Skaggs says T-V-A has a plan.
He added, "Some of the other challenges is Fukushima, how to deal with the hydrology effects, the rainfall and the new methodology that's been imposed based on the lessons learned from that accident."
Unit One at Watts Bar has been running since 1996.
It's shut down right now for a scheduled re-fueling.
