The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on April 26 approved continuing with construction of the second generating unit at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in accordance with a revised estimate.

The revised estimate for completing Watts Bar Unit 2 was announced in early April after TVA put new leadership in place and conducted a seven-month analysis of the project. The estimate includes additional funding of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, bringing the total cost to complete the project between $4 billion and $4.5 billion, with a most likely estimate of $4.2 billion. Completion is now expected between September and December 2015.

“The TVA board has been kept apprised of the review at Watts Bar Unit 2,” Chairman Bill Sansom said. “Our concurrence today to complete the facility is not only one of support for nuclear energy as an important part of TVA’s balanced energy mix to meet the needs of our seven-state region. It also is an endorsement of the leadership and actions by Tom Kilgore as president and CEO and his team on issues of importance to TVA and to the Tennessee Valley.”

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