A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama, causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels.

The Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant is located on the Tennessee River near Decatur and Athens, Alabama, on the north side 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 third most powerful nuclear power plant in the United States, behind the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Arizona and the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia, and the most powerful generating station operated by TVA.

Decatur is the largest city in and the county seat of Morgan County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City," it is located in northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake along the Tennessee River. The population was 57,938 at the 2020 census.