Report: TVA reactors inefficient

Report: TVA reactors inefficient

By J. PATRICK WILLARD
The Knoxville Journal

Four Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear reactors are among the 15 least efficient in the United States, according to a report released today by the a Ralph Nader consumer group.

The report by the Critical Mass Energy Project found that rather than being "too cheap to meter," nuclear plant costs are rising to a point where they may be "too costly to continue."

Critical Mass officials said nuclear plants may be costing $7 to $13 billion per year more than industry estimates. The report, entitled "Too Costly To Continue," was based on two years of research of the nuclear industry.

The report was warmly greeted by members of the Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition who have called on TVA to defer restart efforts on Browns Ferry Units 1 and 3.

"I think it underscores what we've been saying about Browns Ferry 1 and 3," said TVEC Director Mark Siegel.

"In the long run, we suspect that coal-fired steam plants would be less expensive than the nuclear plants would be," Siegel added.

The TVA reactors were cited as an example of the inability of nuclear reactors to produce as much power as predicted by nuclear experts. The four TVA reactors have produced only about 46 percent of their lifetime capacity, compared with industry estimates of 70 to 84 percent, according to Critical Mass officials.

The reactors noted in the report include all three units at Browns Ferry and Sequoyah Unit 1.

The report also charged that nuclear power is not a dependable source of electricity. Long outages and rising operation and maintenance costs have made nuclear power less affordable. According to the Critical Mass report, operations and maintenance costs were 20 percent higher in 1986 than in 1985.

TVA's five nuclear reactors have been off line since 1985, when the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah plant's were closed for safety precautions. The long shutdown has drastically reduced the lifetime capacity factors for the TVA reactors, since they have produced no electricity during the two-year period.

Critical Mass officials suggested that nuclear power is not needed now to meet the country's energy needs. "If no nuclear plants had operated during 1986 there would have been a 28 percent surplus of electrical generating capacity nationwide," the report said.