The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant is located on the Tennessee River near Decatur and Athens, Alabama, on the north side (right bank) of Wheeler Lake. The site has three General Electric boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear generating units and is owned entirely by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). With a generating capacity of nearly 3.8 gigawatts, it is the second most powerful nuclear plant in the United States, behind the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona, and the most powerful generating station operated by TVA. History The nuclear power plant is named after a ferry that operated at the site until the middle of the 20th century. Browns Ferry was TVA's first nuclear power plant; its approval occurred on June 17, 1966 and construction began in September 1966. In 1974, the time of its initial operation, it was the largest nuclear plant in the world. It was the first nuclear plant in the world to use units capable of generating more than 1 gigawatt of power. The lake provides main cooling, and 7 additional Mechanical Draft "helper" cooling towers assist during limitations on water temperature. The 600 ft concrete chimney vents gases. In 2006, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the licenses for all three reactors, extending their operation for an additional twenty years past their original 40-year licensing period. TVA employs 1500 people at the plant, making it the largest employer in Limestone County, Alabama . A planned Toyota-Mazda factory north of the unincorporated town of Greenbrier will employ 4000 when completed. Power Uprates On August 16, 2017, the NRC approved TVA's request for a 14.3% uprate of each reactor's output. Each unit's gross electrical output was 1,155 MWe (1,101 MWe net), but after power uprates during refueling outages in Fall 2018 for Unit 1, Spring 2019 for Unit 2, and Spring 2018 for Unit 3, the gross electrical output for each unit was increased to 1,310 MWe (1,256 MWe net). The uprate for Unit 3 was completed in July 2018, and in January 2019 for Unit 1. The final uprate, for Unit 2, was completed in August 2019, completing the $475 million project. The electrical power increase of each unit was facilitated by the maximum operating thermal output of each reactor being increased from 3,458 MWth to 3,952 MWth. Electricity Production Unit 1 Unit 1 is a 1,256 MWe net BWR/4 built by General Electric. Construction started