Policy may give boost to nuclear power here

Policy may give boost to nuclear power here

President's proposal could get Browns Ferry, Bellefonte back online

05/18/01
By KARIN MEADOWS
Times Washington Correspondent
karin.meadows@newhouse.com

WASHINGTON - The odds that Alabama nuclear power plants mothballed by TVA for decades may be up and running in the near future just got better.

On Thursday, President Bush, in his proposed energy bill, touted nuclear as a "clean and unlimited source of power" and called for the upgrade and expansion of nuclear reactors.

"The cavalry has arrived," U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, said in response to Bush's plan, which could mean the restart of a once troubled reactor at Browns Ferry in Limestone County and completion of construction on a twin-reactor nuclear plant at Bellefonte in Jackson County.

The plan is all good news for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owes the federal government billions of dollars borrowed to finance never-completed energy plan Boost nuclear reactors. TVA stopped construction on the nearly-completed Bellefonte reactors in 1988 after forecasts of power needs in the region were lowered and because of safety concerns at Browns Ferry.

TVA board member Glenn McCullough Jr. applauded the proposed policy.

"We're encouraged by the plan's emphasis on nuclear. It's an important part of our portfolio," said McCullough, who talked with members of the energy task force before the report was released about TVA's needs.

McCullough said TVA and the nuclear industry as a whole have demonstrated the ability to deliver nuclear power safely, reliably and economically. He called nuclear power a clean air fuel, but admitted the industry and the public must find ways to address the problem of storing the byproduct of the process - radioactive waste.

But environmentalists said while TVA nuclear plants have performed well during the past three years, no one should discount a more than 25-year history of problems.

In 1975, a TVA employee using a candle flame to inspect wiring started a fire at Browns Ferry, causing $10 million in damages. The fire shut down two reactors for months.

In 1985, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shut down all three Browns Ferry reactors because engineers could not provide the agency with proper documentation to prove plant modifications.

While Browns Ferry was shut down, TVA discovered additional safety problems at its Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in Chattanooga, and operations there were halted. Operations at a third facility, Watts Barr, soon were shut down, too.

Upgrading and bringing reactors online is costly, said Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. TVA spent more than $20 billion to build plants that have never produced electricity. If you look at past performance overall, the technology's economic value is questionable, Smith said.

"The nuclear folks really love to say, 'Well, once we get these up and running and once we get the bugs out the cost will drop,' but these plants only run for a certain period of time," Smith said. "I don't see nuclear playing a significant role. I think it is a dead end for the administration to be heading down."

The proposal encourages increasing power produced by current plants through modifications, but calls the process arduous and expensive, hinting at the need for financial help or relaxed rules.

Sessions has introduced legislation that would give TVA a tax break for upgrading nuclear plants and for bringing silent reactors online.

U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, said he is pushing for further investments at Bellefonte and Browns Ferry to improve production.

Bush's plan, drawn up by a task force working under Vice President Dick Cheney, also calls for a nationwide increase in the number of coal gasification plants.

There currently are only two such facilities in the United States, but Texaco has proposed constructing a coal gasification plant on the Bellefonte site near Scottsboro. Proponents claim the plants are cleaner burning than traditional coal-fired plants.

Alabama officials have not shared the same enthusiasm for another aspect of Bush's plan, increased oil drilling in the Gulf.

Gulf Shores Mayor David Bodenhamer said Thursday that it's time for Alabama to join Florida in demanding a 100-mile buffer from the shoreline for offshore drilling rigs.

"The entire coast is somewhat at risk," Bodenhamer said. "We understand the nation needs the resource, if it can be tapped safely," Bodenhamer told the Associated Press.

One of the areas in dispute is off the Pensacola, Fla., coast and extends into Alabama, which stirred the Gulf Shores mayor's concern. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has requested that Interior Secretary Gale Norton cancel the sale, saying there should be no drilling closer than 100 miles off his state's coast.

Norton has so far refused to cancel the sale, but is not expected to make a final decision until October.