TVA might not finish 3 nuclear units

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 18, 1994

TVA might not finish 3 nuclear units

Jesse Tinsley
News-Sentinel staff writer

Three unfinished TVA nuclear units may never be completed, while the prospects of a restart of another unit are questionable, TVA Chairman Craven Crowell told power group distributors Tuesday in Nashville.

"We have asked whether owns Ferry 1 should ever be started and we have stated emphatically that we might never complete three units under construction," Crowell said at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association.

Crowell called the decision by the TVA board to review the four units, part of the integrated resource planning process, "a significant policy change in our nuclear program."

This reiteration comes two weeks after TVA announced a comprehensive energy plan, which included the possible cancellation of construction on the three unfinished nuclear units.

"Ultimately, the IRP (integrated resource plan) will determine the future of TVA's four nuclear units that are furtherest away from completion," Crowell said. "We all know that this will require some hard decisions, which the board is prepared to make."

The plan, called Energy Vision 2020, projects energy needs 25 years into the future as well as examining the necessity unfinished and off-line nuclear units.

Crowell told members of the association, which represents the 160 TVA power distributors, the future of the electric utility industry will be market driven and TVA must take advantage of market opportunities or lag behind. If TVA monitors the market and makes changes accordingly, the agency will be ready for the future, Crowell said.

"We are aware that our competitors are busy cutting their costs, increasing their quality and creating new services to meet changing customer needs," he said. "New technologies and new, independent sources of generation are changing tomorrow's electric horizon."

The long-term energy strategy will be mapped out during the next 18 months. During that period, the TVA board, along with public input and a recently hired independent adviser, will decide the fate of the four nuclear units in question.

The units could be canceled or converted to other fuel sources. A handful of other TVA nuclear units throughout the region are expected to remain operational.

"The answers to these questions will tell us how much construction is necessary, if any, and what our future plans can be for reducing our debt," Crowell said.

As part of the energy plan, TVA has hired an independent adviser and will seat 20 citizens on a review team to help develop a plan to determine the region's future energy options.

TVA officials said a decision to curtail elements of its nuclear program, currently billions of dollars in debt, coincides with the agency's overall energy strategy.

It will now focus attention on its $25 billion debt. Part of the strategy is to do capital expenses through existing revenue rather than borrowing.