Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant

With the emergence of developing nuclear power technology by the 1950s-1960s, the TVA would initiate a nuclear development plan by the mid-1960s to plan and build seven nuclear power generation stations across the Tennessee Valley, Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, Watts Bar, Bellefonte, Hartsville, Yellow Creek, and Phipps Bend. This was a result of new interest regarding the environmental efficiency of nuclear power while having a baseload as powerful as the fossil fuel facilities the TVA had constructed the decades prior.[5] In 1974, the TVA's first nuclear reactor would be operational at the Browns Ferry facility near Huntsville, Alabama.[6]

Interest for a nuclear power plant in Hawkins County was reported as early as 1972, when a community club expressed enthusiasm for a breeder reactor unit at the John Sevier Fossil Plant near the county seat of Rogersville.[7] By 1974, the TVA announced plans for a two-unit nuclear power generation station in the Phipps Bend area of Hawkins County, citing the level acreage along the banks of the Holston River.[8] The TVA would acquire over 1,400 acres of farmland on the northern shore of the Holston River through primarily eminent domain. Infrastructure upgrades both on-site and off-site were underway to prepare for the power plant, including the widening of U.S. Route 11W into a four-lane limited-access highway from Kingsport to Rogersville, and over $2 million in the construction of water and sewage systems to access the plant site from the public works department of Rogersville. The TVA provided funding for industrial access roads to Phipps Bend from US 11W.[9]

For the Phipps Bend reactor units, the TVA purchased two BWR-6 boiling water reactors supplied by General Electric.[10] The Phipps Bend reactors had a net output of nearly 2600 MWe.[11]

Construction on Phipps Bend began with the demolition of existing structures on the project in April 1977 and drilling for core samples at for geotechnical work. Value of the project increased an additional billion dollars following change orders and rising costs in construction materials.[3] The project employed a peak construction workforce of over 2,500 workers.[12]

Remains of the Unit 1 reactor shell, with cooling tower base in the background.

In 1981, the TVA board of directors voted unanimously to defer further construction of the Phipps Bend nuclear project in a conference at the TVA's twin tower complex in downtown Knoxville. More than 100 individuals attended the conference to protest the deferment, with over 40 Hawkins County residents wearing yellow armbands signifying that they were "hostages" to the TVA.[1] In 1987, the TVA auctioned off the Phipps Bend site and the incomplete nuclear facility to Phipps Bend Joint Venture LLC, an industrial development group consisting of Hawkins County and Kingsport officials.[15]

Charlotte, North Carolina based renewable energy firm Birdseye Renewable Energy announced in a partnership with Atlanta-based United Renewable Energy to construct a photovoltaic power station at the Phipps Bend site. The six-acre facility, consisting of more than 3,000 solar panels, was completed in 2017 at a cost of $1.8 million. Birdseye has contracted to sell its power to Holston Electric Cooperative, an electricity distributor based in Hawkins and Hamblen counties. The TVA assisted in the project with its Solar Solutions Initiative, which provides financial incentives for solar power projects in the Tennessee Valley.[4]

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