Bellefonte is finalist for new nuclear plant

Bellefonte is finalist for new nuclear plant

By DAVE FLESSNER
BUSINESS EDITOR

Seventeen years after work was halted on the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, the nuclear industry breathed new life Thursday into Alabama's largest unfinished construction project.

A group of utilities picked TVA's Bellefonte site in Hollywood, Ala., as one of two preferred locations to build what would be the first new American nuclear reactor in more than three decades. The consortium known as NuStart Energy Development LLC said it likely will pursue a license for a nuclear plant at either Bellefonte or the Grand Gulf plant operated by Entergy near Port Gibson, Miss.

TVA Chairman Bill Baxter said Thursday he believes the Bellefonte site could attract other partners to help TVA pay for what plant designers project likely will cost from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion to construct.

WHAT'S NEXT

By 2008, NuStart expects to receive NRC approval for a combined construction and operating license for a new nuclear plant. With such prior approval, plant construction could begin by 2011, and the plant could be completed and in operation by 2015.

"The Bellefonte site is a superior choice for a new nuclear plant because of the existing infrastructure and its ideal location that supports partnering opportunities with other Nustart utilities," Mr. Baxter said. "We look forward to working with NuStart partners in pursuing a license from the NRC as the next step in this process."

NuStart, comprised of eight utilities and two reactor manufacturers, is working with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a new and simpler reactor design to revive construction of nuclear plants. Bellefonte was the last American nuclear plant to obtain a construction license in 1974, but the twin-reactor facility was mothballed in 1988.

TVA, which invested $4.6 billion at Bellefonte, has tried unsuccessfully over the past decade and a half to entice either the Department of Energy or other utilities to finish the nuclear plant or convert it to other uses. If NuStart ultimately picks Bellefonte for its new plant design, only a portion of the existing facility would be used as part of a new Advanced Passive 1000 reactor design by Westinghouse.

But Nustart officials heralded Thursday's announcement as "a major milestone" in the nuclear industry's efforts to start a new reactor. No new nuclear plants have been started since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania that led to new and costly regulations and design revisions.

"Our country needs these advanced nuclear plants," said Marilyn Kray, president of Nustart and an executive of Exelon, the nation's biggest operator of nuclear reactors. "Our country must reduce our dependence on imported foreign energy."

But anti-nuclear power activists criticized the government's subsidies for the new nuclear designs and questioned whether the new plants ever will be built.

"We don't think that in the long term subsidizing the construction of two or three nuclear plants is going to make that much difference in America's energy policy," said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "We'd like to see a more environmentally responsible approach than contaminating another site in Alabama with radioactive wastes. But it's still not at all clear that Wall Street is ready to invest in nuclear power."

TVA Executive Vice President Jack Bailey said the federal utility is looking for others to help finance a new plant at Bellefonte, although he said those partners could be other utilities, financiers or even TVA's own distributors. Next month, TVA will begin writing off most what it invested in Bellefonte's original nuclear plant because the 1970s-era design would be too unreliable and too expensive to complete, officials said.

Mr. Kray said NuStart will pursue a license for the new nuclear plant with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by either late 2007 or early 2008. If financing is arranged and the demand is sufficient, construction of a new plant could begin in 2010 or 2011. Designers of the new nuclear plants project the reactors could be built in four years.

"TVA projects a need in the Tennessee Valley for new base load generation around 2015, and nuclear power provides a clean, reliable and efficient source of power to meet our customers' demands," TVA President Tom Kilgore said.

But TVA Director Skila Harris said the ultimate decision about whether to build a new plant at Bellefonte will depend upon the power demand and the costs of alternative generation.

"TVA's primary nuclear focus today remains the restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1 (which has been idle since 1985)," she said. "But serious efforts are also being directed toward the exploration of future nuclear power as well as other forms of power generation."

In Jackson County, Ala., economic development officials said they are eager for Bellefonte to produce power and jobs. Both the state of Alabama and local governments offered economic incentives to NuStart to encourage the selection of Bellefonte, although officials declined to discuss the incentives.

"Jackson County has been supportive of nuclear power since the 1970s, and although there's been a lot of ups and downs at Bellefonte, we're hopeful this time a plant will be built and operated," said Goodrich Rogers, president of the Jackson County Economic Development Authority.

E-mail Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com

BELLEFONTE AT A GLANCE

• Location: Hollywood, Ala.
• Owner: Tennessee Valley Authority
• Investment: $4.6 billion so far
• Status: Current plant mothballed in 1988
• Future design: NuStart may fund design of Westinghouse Advanced Passive reactor
• Future developer: TVA and other unknown partners