Staff File Photo by Angela Lewis

TVA uncompleted Bellefonte Nuclear Plant is located near Hollywood, Ala.

Nearly four decades after the Tennessee Valley Authority decided to put a nuclear power plant in Northeast Alabama, directors of the federal utility will decide what type of reactor, if any, will be built there.

TVA President Tom Kilgore said last week he expects to make a recommendation to the utility's board in early 2010 about whether to reclaim TVA's original plant design or to pursue a next-generation reactor at the Bellefonte site in Hollywood, Ala.

Bellefonte, a 1,600-acre site along the Tennessee River, was to house the first new Westinghouse "advanced passive" reactor -- known as an AP1000 -- backed by a consortium of utilities and engineering companies. But a new study suggests it would be cheaper to finish Bellefonte's original Babcock & Wilcox-designed reactor that was mothballed before completion more than 20 years ago.

"We're balancing right now between finishing up what is already there at Bellefonte and the new technology of the AP1000," Mr. Kilgore told reporters and editors of the Chattanooga Times Free Press last week. "As we have looked at our options again, candidly we have recognized that there was a lot of money invested at Bellefonte and it would be good if we could see our way to finish that."

TVA spent $4.5 billion over 14 years on the twin-reactor plant at Bellefonte, but work was halted in 1988 when power demand growth slowed.

By 2006, the utility switched gears and moved toward building next-generation reactors that proponents said would be simpler, safer and cheaper.

In the new study, TVA engineers advocate restarting work at Bellefonte to meet predicted power needs and the utility's goal of generating 50 percent of its power from low or zero carbon-emitting sources by 2020.

The 407-page study concludes that finishing the original plant would average 50 cents to 90 cents less per megawatthour than either building an AP1000 units or building nothing and buying power from other power producers.

hearing looks at options

TVA plans a public hearing in Scottsboro, Ala., on Dec. 8 to review its environmental assessment of Bellefonte. Mr. Kilgore said a final report will be prepared in time for the TVA board to pick an option for Bellefonte before next summer.

TVA gave up its construction permit for Bellefonte in 2006, but the NRC agreed in March to reinstate the construction permit for a "terminated plant."

The utility still must convince regulators to revive an active construction permit before work could resume, spokesman Roger Hannah said. The units are about 50 percent complete, and some of the original equipment is outdated or has been removed, the utility estimates.

Anti-nuclear activists already are questioning TVA's approach.

"The old era of nuclear power should really come to a close, and it just doesn't make sense to try to revive a 1970s-era power plant," said Ed Lyman, senior scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The opportunities are there if you are going to build new nuclear power plants to achieve significant increases in safety and security through greatly improved designs."

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, criticized TVA for "rushing into a decision" about Bellefonte before the agency completes its power planning process and without a full board.

Only six of the nine board seats are filled and the term of member Bill Sansom will end next month.

"Demand for electricity has dropped precipitously, so there is no hurry to rush into any decision about Bellefonte," Mr. Smith said.

demand for power

TVA projects it will need at least one reactor from Bellefonte by 2018, Mr. Kilgore said.

The federal utility now is building America's only new nuclear reactor at Watts Bar near Spring City, Tenn.

The Unit 2 reactor there is due to begin generating power in 2012 and, even with reduced power demand, TVA projects another plant will be needed in 10 years.

"As the (Tennessee) Valley grows, we're going to build more nuclear power for our baseload generation," Mr. Kilgore said. "Our goal is to build nuclear, which has no carbon, no sulfur and no nitrogen. It's the best thing out there."

TVA now derives a third of its power from its six reactors at Browns Ferry in Alabama and Sequoyah and Watts Bar in Tennessee.

Redesigning AP1000

Last month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered Westinghouse to redesign or retest the reactor shield building on the AP1000 to withstand an earthquake or natural disaster better.

The move could delay design work or construction for 14 reactors, including two twin-reactor projects in Georgia and South Carolina. Westinghouse designers will meet with NRC officials Monday but spokesman Vaughn Gilbert said the company is confident the design will be certified by 2011 and the first plants online in 2016. "The NRC review is part of the process, and although it may require some additional tests or some redesign, we are still confident the AP1000 will be approved," he said.

SOUND OFF

TVA will conduct an open house from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Goose Pond Civic Center in Scottsboro, Ala., to hear comments on whether the original Bellefonte nuclear reactors should be finished, a new unit should be built or no plant should be erected there.