TVA plans to pick winning bid for abandoned nuclear plant by end of October

HOLLYWOOD, Ala. – Want to buy nuclear power plant? The Tennessee Valley Authority could have a deal for you.

But even after more than 42 years of construction, the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant still needs some work before it can generate any power.

TVA is soliciting bids from those interested in buying most of the 1,600-are Bellefonte site on a peninsula here on the Tennessee River. TVA has hired a Marlborough, Mass.-based consulting firm, Concentric Energy Advisors, to help market the sale of Bellefonte for potential use by another power producer or reuse for commercial, residential or recreational uses.

An inside view of the cooling towers at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power plant. Staff File Photo by Matt Fields-Johnson

TVA will receive bid proposals from those who might be interested in buying the site this month and plans to pick a winning bid for the sale by the end of October. The initial indicator bids are due Monday.

TVA has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for Bellefonte – the appraised value of the property. That’s only a fraction of the more than $5 billion TVA has invested in the nuclear plant over the past 42 years of construction and maintenance of the plant.