The Sequoyah Nuclear Plant’s Unit 1 and Unit 2 reactors were taken offline early Tuesday, June 24, due to equipment issues.

Unit 1’s shutdown was caused by a failed computer processor, which has been addressed by updating the vendor firmware, and final startup procedures are underway.

Unit 2’s issue stemmed from a failed diaphragm in a Main Feedwater Regulating Valve, with repairs ongoing.

Both reactors were manually shut down after insufficient water flow to the steam generators was detected, but all safety systems functioned normally, and there was no risk to public or employee safety.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) requested local utilities, including EPB, to encourage customers to reduce power usage starting Tuesday morning due to the outages and a concurrent heat wave. The TVA did not initially disclose the reactor shutdowns in their statement about the heat wave.

The Sequoyah plant typically powers about 1.3 million homes daily, and it remains unclear when the reactors will resume full operation.