Bellefonte

[Roll Tide]

Will Bellefonte ever get finished? As the only remaining NRC construction permit, it is the best hope for new nuclear generation until the next generation of nuclear.

I am not looking for facts, because I don't believe there are any to be had at this time. I work as a TVA contractor, and Dad retired from Bellefonte, and if there were verifiable plans, I would have heard them.

I would like to hear opinions, whether other people are as hopeful as I am that another nuke could come on line. From a personal perspective, it helps that my home is within the 5 mile EPZ for Bellefonte.

[whosez]

They have an extension of the construction permits.
Unit 1 til 2011 and Unit 2 til 2014

[idrum4food]

Rumor going around that TVA and some Jap company are going to build two brand new units at the same site??

[DecommMan]

I heard TVA is hurting financially - not sure if they could pull off building any new nukes right now.

[Roll Tide]

Rumor going around that TVA and some Jap company are going to build two brand new units at the same site??

I noticed there's a company looking for liasons between TVA and some Japanese company. They wanted previously SRO licensed and bi-lingual Japanese / English. I would be advertising in Japan rather than TN / AL / GA if I wanted to hire someone like that.

I think there's too much invested in BLNP Unit 1 to not finish as nuclear, though Unit 2 may be a candidate for non-nuclear completion since Secondary is finished.

[Dan_E.]

I think there's too much invested in BLNP Unit 1 to not finish as nuclear, though Unit 2 may be a candidate for non-nuclear completion since Secondary is finished.

A word of caution on there on having too much invested to not finish Unit 1 though I don't know what the percentage is. We had one, WPPSS #1, out here that was over 87% complete and they still pulled the plug. Will be starting to tear part of it down soon. Political and public climate and degree of paperwork completed has to be factored in too.

[PWHoppe]

RE: Money invested to not complete see Midland, Shoreham, Seabrook, Perry, Marble Hill, etc, etc, ...

BTW...speaking of Bellafonte...I LOVE the Banana Boat song

[Roll Tide]

BTW...speaking of Bellafonte...I LOVE the Banana Boat song

You have struck a sensitive nerve here on that subject. I grew up above Sublet's Ferry Landing, which used Bellefonte as the landing on the othe side of the Tennessee back before Guntersville Dam was built.
I can assure you it isn't a word that rhymes with Bellafonte, it's two incredibly flat syllables (Bell-Font) when spoken in the native tongue. (Of course, when my sister mentions working at Bellefonte, it does sound like Bellafonte, and is worse than nails on a chalkboard.)

The fact that TVA still has an active construction permit, and none of those other plants listed are still on the books makes TVA the only "in-progress" nuclear choice. Bellefonte is a better choice than Watts Bar Unit 2 due to parts scavenging. Watts Bar employees hate it when Sequoyah refers to WBN2 as the mock-up and storehouse, but it is.

Bellefonte being B&W instead of Westinghouse has spared it. Additionally, the NRC inspectors I have had conversations with over the years have all stated Bellefonte is the best built nuclear plant in the country. Politics was the reason Watts Bar 1 was finished instead of Bellefonte 1 (TN congressional delegation had more pull than AL.)

[SloGlo]

I heard TVA is hurting financially - not sure if they could pull off building any new nukes right now.

sell the land to a group who has the money.  the permits should follow the sale.

[HydroDave63]

TVA hurting financially?  Thought they were a USG entity.  The federal budget must be getting tight.

The 'T' stands for Tennesse.  It may be a state government run facility, but NO comercial power plants are federally operated.

Most incorrect. TVA has Federal jurisdiction in 7 states for its electric distribution and generation, etc. No single state would have ever been able to arrange water rights for the hydroelectric parts of the TVA system when TVA was first created, with Federal financing. The first part of the FAQ page reads as follows:

What is TVA?
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federal corporation and the nation's largest public power company. As a regional development agency, TVA supplies affordable, reliable power, supports a thriving river system, and stimulates sustainable economic development in the public interest. TVA operates fossil-fuel, nuclear, and hydropower plants, and has also begun producing energy from renewable sources. It manages the nation's fifth-largest river system to minimize flooding, maintain navigation, provide recreational opportunities, and protect water quality in the 41,000-square-mile watershed.

When was TVA established?
TVA was set up by the U.S. Congress in 1933, primarily to provide flood control, navigation, and electric power in the Tennessee Valley region.


http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/keyfacts.htm  for FAQ's about TVA

[Roll Tide]

sell the land to a group who has the money.  the permits should follow the sale.

It can't be done. You see SloGlo, TVA nuclear plants are built with "government money", not real money. When you have nearly $30 Billion in nuclear construction debt, you can't just sell the land for what it's worth. What is the street value of an unfinished nuclear site? Millions of dollars (such as where they filmed "The Abyss), but that means writing off a loss of Billions. Congress will have to approve of that, and they won't.

Yeah, I know TVA is a quasi-government agency with no federal funding, but it still has congressional oversight. The only one who would spend billions of dollars on an unfinished nuclear plant is another government (or quasi-government) agency, and DOE worked out a different route for Tritium production.

[SloGlo]

It can't be done.
 Congress will have to approve of that, and they won't.

sure it can.  sure they will.  get outside the box.  put a little item of pork barrel politics into a bill, say the rewrite of the energy bill, and voila, new land for new owners!  

[Roll Tide]

sure it can.  sure they will.  get outside the box.  put a little item of pork barrel politics into a bill, say the rewrite of the energy bill, and voila, new land for new owners!  

OK,
I will concede it could be slid into a big bill, and be more relevant to the energy bill than a Hooter's in an energy efficient new mall in LA.  
I just don't expect that to happen, especially if the prime bidder for a new project is a Japanese company.

[whosez]

ROLL TIDE

OK,
I will concede

Think man, think, don't ever give up that easy.

[Roll Tide]

ROLL TIDE
Think man, think, don't ever give up that easy.

Sorry SloGlo,
Based on the advice of counsel, I won't even concede that one measly point. No one can afford to write off that much debt, they must bring it online. (Online by '09, join in the cheer with me!)

[Roll Tide]

http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/04/01/45348069.shtml?Element_ID=45348069

Kudos to C. Jethro for finding this jewel about Bellefonte:  involves building an Advanced BWR in conjunction with Toshiba and GE.
I can speak BWR! Put me in, Coach!

[Roll Tide]

Did I mention driving down Sand Mountain (AL-40) and looking at the BLNP Cooling towers and containment buildings every week? Also the sight from AL-35 TN River Bridge is gorgeous.

[idrum4food]

I've heard the same but not by 09. Send me in too.

[Roll Tide]

It seems Browns Ferry owes the majority of their HP staffing to the Bellefonte deferrment. Wonder how many would want to get back to Bellefonte when available? 

[idrum4food]

Browns Ferry'd have ta start more than one rad con class.

[Roll Tide]

Energy Providers Seek Grant as Step to Build Nuclear Plant
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: April 26, 2004

WASHINGTON, April 25 - Amid growing signs of interest in building nuclear power plants, a consortium of companies plans to ask the federal government on Monday for $400 million to help prepare an application to build a reactor.

Separately, six companies applied on Friday for a smaller grant to study building an advanced reactor on the site of a twin-reactor project abandoned in 1988 as too expensive.

The consortium first announced its interest in building a nuclear power plant on March 31, but it plans to tell the Energy Department on Monday that it has added two big partners, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke Power, a unit of Duke Energy. It will also provide a firmer budget for its work.

The group, which has named itself NuStart Energy Development, initially included Exelon Nuclear, a unit of the Exelon Corporation; Entergy Nuclear, a unit of the Entergy Corporation; Constellation Energy; the Southern Company; and EDF International North America, a subsidiary of Électricité de France, which owns shares in reactors in the United States.

The consortium also includes General Electric and the Westinghouse Electric Company, a subsidiary of BNFL, which was formerly British Nuclear Fuels Limited.

The initial announcement by the consortium drew criticism from antinuclear groups, who complained about safety, vulnerability to terrorism and the problem of disposing spent fuel.

According to people involved with the consortium, NuStart will argue that the sum it is seeking is modest relative to what the federal government has paid recently to subsidize other forms of energy research or production.

"The country needs fuel diversity, and it needs energy independence from foreign energy sources," an executive involved in the NuStart group, who asked not to be identified by name in advance of the announcement. "This is an effort to provide the nuclear option," he said.

In the 10 years ended in 2002, Nu- Start will point out, the Energy Department spent $482 million on fossil energy projects, including "clean coal;" $538 million on energy efficiency; and $446 million on solar and other forms of renewable energy. And in 2003, the government gave the wind industry $280 million in the form of a production tax credit.

NuStart is applying for a dollar-for-dollar match, under a program called Nuclear Power 2010, whose goal is to have at least one reactor under construction by that year. It has not picked a site or a design, or even committed to build anything.

Under the same program, on Friday a different group asked for help with a $4 million project to explore building a reactor in northern Alabama at the site of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bellefont project. The T.V.A. stopped work on a twin-unit nuclear plant at Bellefonte in 1988, after spending $2.5 billion there.

The new group includes T.V.A. and General Electric (which are both members of the NuStart group as well); Bechtel, an architect and engineering company; Toshiba; and USEC, a company that processes uranium for nuclear reactor use.

On March 17, another consortium - made up of Dominion Resources Inc., Hitachi America, Bechtel and an American subsidiary of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. - also asked for financing.

Joseph H. Davis, a spokesman for the Energy Department, said on Friday, "We welcome any and all applications under this program." But he added, "We haven't made a decision on when we're going to make a decision."

In addition, the Energy Department does not have the money in hand to distribute.

But there is some sympathy in Congress. In a statement, Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who is the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, said: "I am absolutely delighted. I think that the market and regulatory forces that have put nuclear back into play will continue in the coming decade, and I think this is the first step in a continuing trend."
---NY TIMES


I would rather see completion of BLN-1, but this would be great with or without BLN-1 completion!

[Roll Tide]

Toshiba, GE hope to build nuclear plant in U.S.

Toshiba Corp. and General Electric Co. have applied for permission with the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct a feasibility study on building a nuclear plant in Alabama, company sources said Sunday.
The two electric giants are hoping to land the contract following a Bush administration decision to once again support the construction of nuclear power plants, according to the sources.

Building of new nuclear power plants in the U.S. has been suspended since the major accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979.

The Bush administration is promoting the use of nuclear energy as a means of reducing America's dependence on Middle East oil.

Toshiba is eyeing the U.S. market because demand for construction of new nuclear power plants and reactors in Japan is stagnant.

According to the plan, Toshiba and GE will work in a consortium with four more companies -- the Tennessee Valley Authority public power firm, contractor Bechtel Corp., enriched uranium fuel supplier USEC Inc. and Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas LLC, a joint venture set up by GE, Toshiba and Hitachi Ltd.

The TVA has applied for permission with the Department of Energy as the main body conducting the feasibility study. If government approval is obtained, the consortium would begin the study for installing an advanced boiling water reactor in Alabama with an output in excess of 1 million kilowatts. Total construction costs would be around $3 billion.

The Japan Times: May 3, 2004

The Japanese version of the same news still looks good for Bellefonte!

[Roll Tide]

Award Could Lead to Completion of Unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Site

Athens, AL--The U.S. Department of Energy today agreed to award $2.1 million to a team of companies that includes the Tennessee Valley Authority to study the cost of constructing a two-unit nuclear plant at TVA's unfinished Bellefonte site, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

The TVA application proposes to conduct a study of the cost and schedule to build a two-unit Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) nuclear facility at the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear site by 2014.

"This is great news for the TVA rate payers as well as the nuclear industry in America," Sessions said. "This study could be a catalyst to jumpstart a new generation of nuclear power in America--a generation that could begin at the Bellefonte site."

Sessions brought the number two official at the Energy Department, Deputy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow, to Alabama today to tour Bellefonte and the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant--both TVA facilities. Sessions, who served in the Senate with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, has discussed the Browns Ferry restart and completion of Bellefonte with Abraham on several occasions.

Sessions and McSlarrow toured Browns Ferry Unit 1 to see first hand the restart modification work. TVA began work to restart Unit 1 in 2002, with completion scheduled for 2007. TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough gave Sessions and McSlarrow a status report on the project.

Sessions and McSlarrow held a news conference afterwards at Browns Ferry, and were scheduled to meet with reporters later in the day at Bellefonte.

"I am pleased at the success of the TVA nuclear program and its commitment to providing low-cost, efficient, reliable power," Sessions said. "The restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1 is on-time and on-budget, and TVA is demonstrating that it is in the forefront of the future of the nuclear industry. The restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1 and the completion of the Bellefonte are consistent with the energy goals of the Bush administration and the needs of America. As we are faced with greater energy demands and more complex environmental challenges, I believe we must harness the possibilities of nuclear power and I hope that Bellefonte will be the proving ground for new-generation nuclear technology."

Members of the TVA ABWR project team include General Electric, Toshiba, Bechtel, Global Nuclear Fuels-America and the United States Enrichment Corporation.

The cost and schedule study is the initial effort in a pending larger combined construction and operating license demonstration project, according to the Energy Department. The department said that TVA expects to conclude the cost and schedule study in 10 months. After the study is finished, TVA will decide whether to submit a construction and operating license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The total cost of the proposed cost and schedule study is $4.25 million, which will be shard on a 50-50 basis between the Energy Department and the TVA team.

Get your resumes ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roll Tide]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority board will consider a budget today that calls for no rate increase in 2005.

A budget recommendation also calls for no large-scale layoffs.

T-V-A, the nation's largest public utility, raised wholesale prices 365 (M) million dollars last year and cut staff by more than 600 employees.

It was the first rate increase since 1997 and the largest employee downsizing in a decade, reducing the work force to about 12,800.

Among the latest layoffs were 45 people in T-V-A's nuclear power group in July, including 16 of 28 people at the unfinished and mothballed Bellefonte station in north Alabama.

http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1095852551220481.xml&storylist=alabamanews

I guess it is time to read the writing on the wall for Bellefonte 1 & 2. Long live the ABWR's.

[Roll Tide]

It looks like do or die time for Bellefonte. Here is the story:

http://www.thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4f087b0ecffc2aa8&page=all

By the way, this showed up automatically on the Nukeworker news feed, eliminating my previous need to "Google" for Bellefonte news periodically. What a cool site feature!

According to the article, a report should be issued this month regarding feasibility of completion. As I said in another thread, "facts" change over time. I would really love to see this one start up!