By Associated Press
Athens AL – The Nuclear Regular Commission has given TVA's Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor near Athens a "degraded" rating for a number of unplanned shutdowns in 2007.
NRC spokesman Ken Clark said the "yellow" performance rating means enhanced commission oversight, but the problem at the three-reactor Tennessee Valley Authority plant isn't considered a major safety violation.
Unit 1, shut down in 1985 for safety reasons, returned to service last May after a five-year, $1.8 billion restart project. According to TVA, the reactor has had five unplanned shutdowns since going back online.
The NRC sent an inspection team to the plant late last year to determine the reasons for the automatic shutdowns.
Clark said the inspection report would be made public this month.
Browns Ferry spokesman Craig Beasley said the NRC rates plants on 16 criteria each year and the shutdowns were the only area where TVA got the degraded score.
He said Unit 1 has operated without interruption since October and TVA is committed to improving the plant's performance. He said it has operated at about 80 percent of its capacity since May.
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