TVA INCREASES PRODUCTION OF TRITIUM – RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPE FROM SOLE SOURCE WATT’S BAR
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Tensions between Russia and the United States over the conflict in Ukraine are reigniting thoughts about nuclear war. Both sides recently publicly docked nuclear subs – and Russia held drills with its nuclear fleet. A big part of our nuclear arsenal starts in our backyard. That material comes from only one place.
“The Tennessee Valley Authority has always had a national defense mission,” TVA’s Jim Hopson told WVLT.
For decades, the TVA has teamed up with the military.
“The tritium production at Watts Bar is just the latest reflection of that mission today,” Hopson said.
That naturally occurring isotope – tritium – has only one public U.S. industrial producer: Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant.
“As part of the nuclear weapons program,” Hopson continued.
Not everyone thinks the TVA aiding nuclear weaponry material is right. We talked to Daryl Kimball from the Arms Control Association, a Washington think tank wanting to limit the spread of nuclear weaponry.
“The civilian nuclear power industry is not to be involved in the production of nuclear weapons,” Kimball said.
Tritium supercharges our arsenal and boosts the explosive yield of nuclear weapons. The material has a very short half-life, only 12.3 years according to all sides.
“So that means if it’s not used, it needs to be refilled,” Hopson said.
