TVA: Completion of Bellefonte 1 is Preferred Option

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Monday said completing one of two unfinished units at the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in north Alabama would be preferred over building a new Westinghouse AP1000 reactor there, or taking no action.

In its recently issued Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the generation options associated with Bellefonte, the federal utility said that four of five detailed studies to support a decision by the TVA board of directors were complete. The TVA board of directors is expected to make the final decision on the proposed nuclear unit at a meeting in August 2010.

“Completing a nuclear unit is one option that would help us meet our customers’ growing needs and provide a reliable and safe power source at significantly less cost per installed kilowatt than other generation options,” said Ashok Bhatnagar, senior vice president of TVA’s Nuclear Generation Development and Construction.

“We now understand the environmental impacts, power supply needs, cost and schedule estimates and the project completion risks. The remaining study evaluates the financing options needed to support construction.”

The statement comes amid TVA’s development of an Integrated Resource Plan that will help identify supply and demand options for meeting the TVA region’s electricity needs for the next 20 years. TVA anticipates using a mix of resources, including energy efficiency and demand response programs, renewable resources, natural gas-fired generation and nuclear generation.

Construction began in 1974 on two 1,260-MW a Babcock & Wilcox pressurized-water reactors (Units 1 and 2) at Bellefonte, but work was halted in 1988 in response to decreased power demand. TVA considered a variety of options for Bellefonte since then, including in 2007 using it as the proposed site for two AP1000 reactors as part of a NuStart Energy Development Consortium application for a new combined construction and operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

In 2009, the NRC granted TVA’s request to reinstate Bellefonte’s original construction permits so TVA could better evaluate the engineering and economic feasibility of completing Units 1 and 2. Both units are now being maintained in construction-deferred status.

Sources: TVA, POWERnews