By Associated Press
Athens, AL – The Tennessee Valley Authority has restarted its oldest nuclear reactor.
Operators began the deliberate, controlled process of restarting the Unit One reactor at the Browns Ferry nuclear station near Athens on Monday.
A self-sustaining nuclear reaction was achieved shortly after midnight Central time.
Operators will gradually increase power over the next several days. It may be several weeks before the unit is connected to the grid.
The reactor began operations in the 1970s. It was shut down in 1985 with the rest of the T-V-A nuclear program over safety and management concerns.
T-V-A has spent five years and one-point-eight (b) billion dollars to bring it back to life.
The reactor will be capable of lighting 650-thousand homes.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)