The Herald-News - News Story

Energizing the economy: Officials tour Watts Bar Unit 2, learn about job creation

Local officials toured the new Watts Bar Unit 2 construction site Friday and heard from the Tennessee Valley Authority about how the nuclear project will energize the economy.

TVA officials said 1,600 workers are employed now at the Spring City plant and about 2,400 employees will be working at the peak of construction.

There will be 500 permanent positions - 300 of which have already been filled - to operate the new Watts Bar unit when it goes online in 2012.

The new nuclear reactor is on schedule and meeting budget, according to TVA.

State Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, cheered the Watts Bar plant as an economic boost that won't be stymied by the recession.

"It's not as prone to downturns as other types of industry are," said Cobb, a former TVA employee who organized Friday's tour. "This place is going to be in business because we need electricity."

Jobs at the nuclear plant will also pay 35 percent more than other surrounding industries, according to TVA.

Real estate broker Jim Baldwin said Spring City is already feeling the economic impact from the Watts Bar project, which TVA began construction on last June.

"We need it. We need something to keep things going and we are happy to be able to support it," said Baldwin, vice president of the Spring City Chamber of Commerce.

TVA and local officials praised the safety features at Watts Bar as much as they did job creation.

Officials touted nuclear energy as the most clean and efficient way to meet growing power demands. Security at Watts Bar, meanwhile, is stringent.

"Wow," Graysville mayor Ted Doss said as the tour concluded. It was the first time Doss and many of the officials had been inside Watts Bar.

"It's amazing how specific they have to be and how precise things are run," Doss said. "You really take it for granted at home."

Having the new nuclear resource in Rhea County could also benefit local schools.
Representatives from Bryan College and Chattanooga State joined Friday's tour.

Bryan President Dr. Stephen Livesay said the Dayton college will examine ways to offer training for Watts Bar workers, as well as use the TVA site to enhance the school's curriculums.

He said Bryan has experience hosting off-site classes and may be interested in setting up programs at the TVA plant.

"There are opportunities for us to work with them to provide educational resources as they ramp up their workforce," Livesay said. "We will explore what we can do."

Livesay also said he was impressed with the Watts Bar tour and noted that the U.S. should speed up its nuclear power production like European countries have done. He said "there are many myths" about nuclear production and there is actually "very minimal risk."

The chief complaint of nuclear opponents now is how to store spent radioactive fuel, according to Cobb.

TVA spokesman Terry Johnson said the federal government is working on a plan to dispose of nuclear waste.

Nuclear plants now store waste on site, according to Johnson. He said Watts Bar is not close to capacity because the plant was designed for two units and thus far has only operated one.

Johnson noted that nuclear plants generate far less waste than fossil fuel burning plants, such as coal-burning units.