Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, Alabama

This Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) nuclear plant, at one time the world's largest, is situated on an 840-acre site adjacent to the Wheeler Reservoir, from which it draws its cooling water. It was the first nuclear plant to be built by the TVA, and is comprised of three boiling water reactors. Unit 1 has an electrical output of 1,065MW, with its initial license having been granted in 1973. Unit 2 has an electrical output of 1,113MW, with its initial license having been granted in 1974. Unit 3 has an electrical output of 1, 113MW, with its initial license having been granted in 1976. In 2014, Brown's Ferry was the second-largest power generating plant in the U.S. Since coming online, the plant has had a number of safety issues. In 1975, a worker looking for air leaks with a lighted candle started a fire that burned out the electrical controls for reactor Unit 1, causing $100 million in damages and a near disaster when cooling water temperature for the reactor rods fluctuated drastically due to the lack of controls and monitoring instrumentation. In 1985, all three reactors were shut down due to safety concerns. Unit 2 was restarted in 1991, followed by Unit 3 in 1995. Unit 1, however, lay dormant until 2007, when it was finally restarted at an estimated cost of $1.8 billion.