By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support local journalism.
TVA nuclear reactor problem found
Placeholder Image

 

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The failure of a reactor coolant valve at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant months ago has raised questions about apparent violations of Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements.NRC Atlanta region spokesman Joey Ledford said Thursday that the valve was stuck shut. Although there is a separate reactor cooling system, there are scenarios when "this particular system would need to be operable," he said.An NRC statement said TVA has been called to a Monday meeting in Atlanta to explain the safety significance of the valve failure that TVA and the NRC discovered last fall during a shutdown of the Unit 1 reactor at the Browns Ferry Plant near Athens, Ala. The statement said the valve "would have been unable to fulfill its safety function if it had been needed."David Lochbaum, nuclear program director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Thursday that for most accidents the valve problem was inconsequential but not in a fire."Had there been a fire at the plant there would have been an inability to cool the core," Lochbaum said in a telephone interview. "Had there been a fire, the fire would have taken out all the backups."Lochbaum, who previously worked at the Browns Ferry plant and last week testified before congressional panels about the industry, said the valve failure was not TVA's fault but was due to testing procedures used at all nuclear plants. He said the testing method used to show that the valve is not working correctly will change."It is something TVA will do different and probably everybody else will do differently," Lochbaum said.TVA nuclear spokesman Ray Golden said Thursday that the mechanical problem at Browns Ferry was discovered, repaired and reported during a Unit 1 refueling shutdown at the three-reactor plant and was never a safety threat. Golden said there are separate reactor cooling systems. He said the valve that circulates cooling water in and out of the reactor was "sort of stuck in the closed position."Golden said the valve failure could result in increased NRC oversight at TVA's' historically problem-plagued plant.Ledford said the Monday meeting would give the NRC "an opportunity to get their side of what happened." He said the NRC would issue a response within a few weeks of the meeting. Ledford said the NRC doesn't regularly impose civil penalties on nuclear plant operators, but the cost of any increase in NRC inspections is paid by the operator.The NRC statement said the meeting is to discuss "apparent violations of NRC requirements linked to the failure of a low pressure coolant injection valve."Ledford said the Monday meeting about the valve failure is not related to the NRC's review of all nuclear plants following the nuclear emergency in Japan.Golden said past problems at the Browns Ferry Plant have at times led to extra NRC scrutiny. The plant is internationally known in the industry as the site where a worker using a candle to check for air leaks in 1974 started a fire that disabled safety systems.TVA had allowed a recent media tour at the plant, which has a reactor design similar to the reactors in Japan that malfunctioned after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. TVA has said the Browns Ferry Plant was designed to withstand a 6.0-magnitude quake. The Knoxville-based utility's nuclear plants in Tennessee — Watts Bar at Spring City and Sequoyah at Soddy-Daisy — are designed to withstand a 5.8-magnitude quake.TVA, the country's largest public utility, supplies power to about 9 million people in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
local news.png

Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community