Press Mention The Jackson Sun May 16, 2002
SACE Quoted
TVA gambles on old Alabama reactor
In this mention
The TVA Board voted to restart the mothballed Unit 1 reactor at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama, projected to cost $1.8 billion and come online in 2007. Steven Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, criticized the decision as a "huge gamble," arguing that no other utility would make such a major capital decision based solely on staff recommendation and that restarting a 1960s-vintage reactor after 17 years contradicts industry trends toward natural gas and other generation sources.
no other utility could get away with doing this — making a $1.8 billion decision based on staff recommendation
Stephen A. Smith
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MAY 17, 2002
Denny Campbell, operations training instructor at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, points to the simulator control panel for the Browns Ferry Unit 2 reactor on May 10 in Athens, Ala. The Tennessee Valley Authority Board voted Thursday to restart the utility's mothballed Unit 1 reactor at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant but did not say how it would pay the projected $1.8 billion cost.
TVA gambles on old Alabama reactor
By BILL POOVEY
The Associated Press
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Tennessee Valley Authority Board voted Thursday to restart the utility's mothballed Unit 1 reactor at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant but did not say how it would pay the projected $1.8 billion cost.
The 29-year-old reactor, which was shut down in 1985 due to safety concerns, is set to restart in 2007. The .agmq alao will construct a oew oooling tower for the reactor.
The three-member board said it followed the recommendation of -JVA employees and had received the blessing of government environmental .mental ,agencies.
However, environmental activists who attended the board meeting warned members that the old equipment would poee-a..-{ety risk, particularly for states ea,t aod' downwind of the reactor near Athens, Ala.
Elected officials from several northern Alabama cities and representatives of unions that will benefit from some 2,400 temporary jobs countered by saying they were in favor of the restart.
TVA executives told the board the utility could pay for the restart while continuing to reduce its debt. Spokesman John Moulton said specifics were t=Xpected within the next few months.
Steven Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said "no other utility could get away with doing this — making a $1.8 billion decision based on staff recommendation.
"This is a huge, huge gamble," he said.
Smith added that restarting an old reactor after a 17-year shutdown would be "very contrary" to what other electricity providers are doing to boost generating capacity, such as developing natural gas-fired plants.
"There is nobody who is restarting old nuclear reactors that are of 1960s vintage and haven't started in 17 years," Smith said. "They are taking this nuclear reactor and asking it to go beyond its life. So they are going to run it longer than it was designed to run. They are trying to get more power out of it than it was designed to do."
Reactors provide about one-third of the power generated by TVA, while coal is the fuel source for about two-thirds. TVA recently stopped work on an unfinished natural gas-powered plant in Tullahoma, Tenn., after investing nearly $150 million. TVA's nuclear staff in March recommended restarting the reactor, which as projected would power about 650,000 homes.
The projected $1.8 billion price tag poses a challenge for the nation's largest public utility, which is under pressure to reduce a $25 billion debt that can't exceed $30 billion.
TVA Board members from left, Bill Baxter, Chairman Glenn McCullough and Skilla Harris listen to responses regarding the start up of the Unit 1 reactor at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, during a meeting in Huntsville, Ala., on Thursday.