After 30 years of generating power, the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant is only halfway through its useful life, TVA officials believe.
The federal utility plans to apply for a 20-year extension of Sequoyah's license to keep the twin-reactor plant operating in Soddy-Daisy through 2041.
Tennessee Valley Authority officials insist the plant, with 10 years left on its original license, has operated well and is maintained adequately to extend its original life.
"Continuing to safely operate the plant for an additional 20 years supports TVA's vision to be one of the nation's leading providers of low-cost and cleaner energy," Sequoyah Site Vice President Mike Skaggs said.
But nuclear critics complain that letting reactors operate beyond their original design life invites potential radioactive leaks and equipment breakdowns.
"Running plants longer and harder than they were originally designed [for] is certainly problematic," said Sara Barczak, high risk energy director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, an anti-nuclear group based in Knoxville. "Unfortunately, license extensions are almost rubber-stamped by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, so we're not holding out much hope of stopping the extension."
The NRC has granted license extensions already for 60 of America's 104 nuclear reactors, including TVA's three reactors at Browns Ferry near Athens, Ala. Another 38 reactors are seeking license extensions.
TVA spokesman Ray Golden said an application for a 20-year extension at Sequoyah should be submitted within a couple of years. That will allow regulators time to thoroughly examine the plant and the application and to conduct public hearings before the current licenses expire in 2020 and 2021.
IF YOU GOWhat: Public open house on the Sequoyah license extensionWhen: 4-8 p.m. todayWhere: Sequoyah Training Center, 2440 Igou Ferry Road, in Soddy-DaisyTelephone comment line: 865-632-3451BY THE NUMBERS* 104: Operating nuclear reactors in the United States* 60: Reactors already granted 20-year license extensions, including Browns Ferry* 22: Reactors awaiting NRC approval for license extensions* 16: Reactors preparing license-renewal applications, including SequoyahSource: Nuclear Energy InstitutePDF: Sequoyah license extension
As part of its initial environmental review, TVA will conduct an open house today from 4 to 8 p.m. at its training center near the plant.
Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's trade group in Washington, D.C., said the original term for plant licenses "was based on the thinking of the time that a standard factory or industrial plant can last for 40 years, and that also was the standard amortization schedule of a plant cost."
"But as time went on and major components were replaced, it was obvious a nuclear plant can operate safely and productively for many years hence," he said.
Environmental groups still complain that nuclear plants add to radioactive waste and thermal pollution in the Tennessee River.
Sandy Kurtz, an anti-nuclear activist who is also active in the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, which is fighting a new TVA plant, said extending Sequoyah's life also "will add more nuclear waste for future generations."
"The waste legacy needs to be addressed before we keep adding more and more radioactive contaminants to our environment," she said.
Sequoyah began generating power at unit 1 in 1980 and at unit 2 the following year. Each reactor can produce more than 1,160 megawatts. Together, they can generate enough electricity to supply about 1.3 million homes.