Crews begin to disassemble one of the rotors at Raccoon Mountain Unit 3. The task took 81 days and over 30,000 man hours to complete. Image: TVA
Crews are lowering into place 3 and a half ton rotors at Raccoon Mountain. The hydroelectric power plant, near Chattanooga, has been offline for more than a year. And the CEO of Tennessee Valley Authority says it can’t come back fast enough.
TVA found a crack in one of the massive rotors in March, 2012, but realized all dozen or so rotors were susceptible and needed replacing. The project should’ve been finished by October, but now it won’t be done until next spring. Racoon Mountain makes more electricity than one nuclear reactor.
TVA CEO Bill Johnson says it’s sorely missed, and he vented his frustration to the agency’s board last month.
“We should be further along in fixing it, just to be frank about it. I’m saying that not just to you, but to some of the people from TVA sitting in the room now.”
Johnson didn’t single out any employees by name, but he also said the contractor making the new rotors had difficulty getting them to TVA in a timely manner.
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