Oak Ridge Today

TVA retires Bull Run Fossil Plant

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An aerial view of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton is pictured above. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority)

The Tennessee Valley Authority has retired the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton.

The plant burned the last of its onsite coal onsite in August, ending a 48-day run. TVA retired the plant December 1.

The TVA Board of Directors approved the retirement of Bull Run on February 14, 2019. That followed an environmental review process that included public input, TVA said.

Bull Run began operating in 1967. At the time it was the largest in the world in the volume of steam produced, according to TVA. Located on 750 acres in Claxton across from Oak Ridge, it was the only single-unit power plant in the TVA system, and it was designed to produce up to 950 megawatts. It has an 800-foot reinforced concrete chimney.

[Read more…]

TVA creating community group for Bull Run Fossil Plant, looking for volunteers

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Valley Authority is seeking volunteers as it creates a Community Action Group for the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton.

The volunteers could focus on issues related to TVA’s management of the plant, an email notice said.

“TVA is committed to doing the right thing to handle the legacy of coal generation and ensuring the safety of the workforce and the communities where TVA has or had fossil plants,” the notice said. “As part of its commitment to safety and best practices to protect its workers and local residents, TVA is creating a Community Action Group for the facility (Bull Run).”

According to the notice, the core responsibilities of this volunteer group will be to:

[Read more…]

(For members) Retiring Bull Run, Paradise could save millions, more than $1 billion in ‘lifetime costs’

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The Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The coal-burning Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton and Paradise Fossil Plant Unit 3 in Kentucky are not economical to operate, and retiring them will offer a savings of about $320 million and avoid more than $1 billion in capital costs, the Tennessee Valley Authority said Thursday.

The TVA Board of Directors voted 6-1 to close Paradise Unit 3 and unanimously agreed to close Bull Run during a meeting in Chattanooga on Thursday. Paradise could close by December 2020, and Bull Run is expected to close by December 2023.

The Bull Run and Paradise closures will be the first 1,700 megawatts of coal plant retirements of the 2,600 megawatts that could be retired through 2033 under a 2015 integrated resource plan, TVA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson told the board.

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TVA seeks comment on ‘dewatering’ facility at Kingston, would allow dry storage

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Kingston Fossil Plant

Kingston Fossil Plant is located on Watts Bar Reservoir on the Tennessee River near Kingston. At the time it was finished in 1955, Kingston was the largest coal-burning power plant in the world, a distinction it held for more than a decade. (Photo courtesy TVA)

HARRIMAN—As part of a commitment to change the way ash and coal products are handled, the Tennessee Valley Authority is proposing to design and build a new facility that would dry out byproduct streams of bottom ash and pyrite at the Kingston Fossil Plant.

The change would allow these coal-burning byproducts to be stored in an onsite, dry landfill.

This project supports TVA’s plan to close all wet ponds containing coal combustion residue and convert them to dry storage throughout TVA’s coal fleet. Kingston is the first of TVA’s fossil plants to undergo the conversion. [Read more…]