Business Briefs: TVA pays fine for Watts Bar

photo Steam rises from the cooling tower of the single operating reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Spring City, Tenn. in this 2007 photo. Photo by TVA

TVA pays fine for Watts Bar

The Tennessee Valley Authority said Friday it accepted a regulatory penalty for the way material was installed at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant and paid a $70,000 fine to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

TVA spokesman Duncan Mansfield said the utility agreed with the NRC finding that TVA had failed to adequately verify the nuclear quality of some equipment installed at Watts Bar, but TVA consultants have since proven the adequacy of what was used at the plant.

"Independent industry experts have now finished their review and testing of all 536 component packages questioned, and have found all acceptable and able to perform their safety function," Mansfield said.


Butler to lead Chase expansion

Chattanooga banker Michael Butler has joined Chase, the U.S. banking division of JP-Morgan Chase & Co., to lead the bank's expansion efforts into Jacksonville, Fla. Chase has 4,000 employees in the Jacksonsville area and plans to add more than a dozen branches.

Butler was previously region president for SunTrust Bank in East Tennessee, where he led retail, commercial and private wealth management lines of business.

He started his banking career with Southeast Bank in Florida and worked for 14 yeas with SunTrust Bank in Orlando before taking the top job with SunTrust in Chattanooga in 2009.


Tennessee debt lowest in U.S.

Tennessee is the lowest indebted state, according to a new report from the bond rating agency Fitch.

The Volunteer State has the lowest net tax-supported debt and unfunded pension obligation as a percent of personal income. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey heralded the news Friday, claiming Tennessee pays what it owes and doesn't burden future generations like other states.

"Tennessee can outperform any state in the union," Ramsey said.

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