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TVA is scaling back plans for new reactors at its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in northeast Alabama as it moves forward with building a natural-gas-powered generator adjacent to a coal-fired steam plant near Rogersville, Tenn. Advertisement The Bellefonte plant, picked three years ago as a possible site for America's next reactor and once eyed for up to four reactors, is now being studied for a single reactor to be built within the next decade. TVA announced Friday that falling power sales and rising cleanup costs at the Kingston ash spill have changed plans for the nuclear plant in Hollywood, Ala. "As the valley grows, TVA intends to meet the demand for power with a combination of conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and additional base load generation," TVA Senior Vice President Ashok Bhatnagar said.

TVA is scaling back plans for new reactors at its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in northeast Alabama as it moves forward with building a natural-gas-powered generator adjacent to a coal-fired steam plant near Rogersville, Tenn. Advertisement The Bellefonte plant, picked three years ago as a possible site for America's next reactor and once eyed for up to four reactors, is now being studied for a single reactor to be built within the next decade. TVA announced Friday that falling power sales and rising cleanup costs at the Kingston ash spill have changed plans for the nuclear plant in Hollywood, Ala. "As the valley grows, TVA intends to meet the demand for power with a combination of conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and additional base load generation," TVA Senior Vice President Ashok Bhatnagar said.

TVA is scaling back plans for new reactors at its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in northeast Alabama as it moves forward with building a natural-gas-powered generator adjacent to a coal-fired steam plant near Rogersville, Tenn. Advertisement The Bellefonte plant, picked three years ago as a possible site for America's next reactor and once eyed for up to four reactors, is now being studied for a single reactor to be built within the next decade. TVA announced Friday that falling power sales and rising cleanup costs at the Kingston ash spill have changed plans for the nuclear plant in Hollywood, Ala. "As the valley grows, TVA intends to meet the demand for power with a combination of conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and additional base load generation," TVA Senior Vice President Ashok Bhatnagar said.

Brown's Ferry nuclear reactor the subject of audit TVA was overbilled more than $1 million on work done to restart its Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 reactor, according to TVA's Office of Inspector General. Advertisement About $2.8 million in subcontractor costs billed to TVA by a contractor was audited and the preliminary review "caused us to have concerns that certain costs that were billed may have also been billed to TVA under other contracts," according to an emailed statement from the office. "In summary, we found TVA had been overbilled $1,075,020 including (1) $174,912 of unsupported and ineligible labor and per diem costs (2) $621,428 of unsupported and ineligible equipment costs (3) $199,180 of unsupported material costs. and (4) $79,500 of overstated task costs."

Brown's Ferry nuclear reactor the subject of audit TVA was overbilled more than $1 million on work done to restart its Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 reactor, according to TVA's Office of Inspector General. Advertisement About $2.8 million in subcontractor costs billed to TVA by a contractor was audited and the preliminary review "caused us to have concerns that certain costs that were billed may have also been billed to TVA under other contracts," according to an emailed statement from the office. "In summary, we found TVA had been overbilled $1,075,020 including (1) $174,912 of unsupported and ineligible labor and per diem costs (2) $621,428 of unsupported and ineligible equipment costs (3) $199,180 of unsupported material costs. and (4) $79,500 of overstated task costs."

The Tennessee Valley Authority announced today that it will end its contract with a private security firm that has provided guards at TVA nuclear plants since 1997. TVA Nuclear Chief Bill Campbell said the federal utility plans to terminate its contract with Pinkerton Government Services and bring back security positions as TVA employees during the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The change will affect about 500 security workers employed at TVA's Sequoyah, Watts Bar and Browns Ferry nuclear plants, TVA spokesman John Moulton said. Under its current contract, TVA paid Pinkerton $159 million, or $26.5 million a year, for security at the three nuclear plants from October 2002 through October 2008.

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in north Alabama has a fire response problem that could lead to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission civil penalty. In a letter to TVA, the NRC said inspectors this year found that the plant near Athens, Ala., potentially violated four safety standards, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Thursday. TVA spokesman Craig Beasley said the plant is working with regulators to address their concerns. He said TVA will "do the work necessary to implement the National Fire Protection Association standards at Browns Ferry."

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in north Alabama has a fire response problem that could lead to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission civil penalty. In a letter to TVA, the NRC said inspectors this year found that the plant near Athens, Ala., potentially violated four safety standards, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Thursday. TVA spokesman Craig Beasley said the plant is working with regulators to address their concerns. He said TVA will "do the work necessary to implement the National Fire Protection Association standards at Browns Ferry."

TVA contractor Stone & Webster Construction Inc. has paid $6.2 million to the federal government to settle a contract fraud complaint, U.S. Attorney James Dedrick said Thursday. The settlement follows the TVA Office of Inspector General's investigation of alleged false claims involving Stone & Webster's billion-dollar plus contract to service TVA nuclear plants in East Tennessee and Alabama, according to a press release.

The Tennessee Valley Authority continues its way on a troubling path of the unknown with nuclear power plants. Given all the potential ramifications of flaws at any nuclear power facility, the public has good reason to question the path taken by TVA. Among the most recent concerns about TVA operations are questions about the design for potential new nuclear reactors at the Bellefonte nuclear power site near Huntsville, Ala. TVA is seeking a license to build a plant based on a new design, the AP-1000 Westinghouse, but environmental groups say while the licensing process goes forward changes are being made to the design. Advertisement TVA insists the changes in the design are only peripheral to the basic plan. Design changes include changes to the pressurizer; changes in the seismic analysis involving rock and soil conditions; changes in instruments and a redesign of fuel racks. Advocates of the licensing process say the design changes at issue are only the kinds of items that can be carried easily on a parallel track with the application process. The basic design is said to be a simpler version of a nuclear reactor. The design is significant because if and when it is approved for Bellefonte, it streamlines the process for other plant sites that might want to build on a Bellefonte model.

The labor union for TVA's nuclear security guards sued the federal utility today for refusing to bargain with the union after switching the guards at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant from a contract employer to TVA's payroll. The United Government Security Officers of America and its Local 22 affiliate filed the lawsuit in federal court in Knoxville after TVA hired virtually all of the contract guards at Browns Ferry but initially refused to bargain with the employees' union about the change. Last week, TVA began phasing out its contract with Pinkerton Government Services and bringing nearly all of the contract guards onto TVA's own payroll at Browns Ferry. Similar transitions are planned over the next month at TVA's Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear plants. In its lawsuit, the union claims TVA is not negotiating with the Government Security Officers of America as required of successor employers.

"The Tennessee Valley Authority is preparing to make a key component for America's hydrogen bombs at its Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Soddy-Daisy. In the White House budget released this week, the U.S. Department of Energy said it wants TVA to make bomb-grade tritium at Sequoyah, similar to what TVA has done at its Watts Bar plant near Spring City, Tenn., for the past decade. TVA officials said Tuesday that adding military production to Sequoyah's energy generation will have only a minimal impact on plant operations and fulfills the agency's federal mission. "We've tested and done this type of production at Watts Bar since 1999 with limited impact on our operations," TVA Vice President Jack Bailey said. PDF: DOE tritium facility But critics said such plans could heighten the risk of a terrorist attack near Chattanooga and weaken U.S. efforts to limit nuclear proliferation abroad."

TVA has no estimates yet on the possible price tag for the four nuclear reactors it might want to build at its Bellefonte site in northern Alabama, TVA officials said Wednesday. TVA is seeking a license, with several partners, for two reactors on the site, where it partially built and then abandoned a nuclear plant years ago.

A whistleblower reported that leaky ducts at a TVA coal plant in northeastern Alabama allowed gases to bypass pollution controls. TVA paid $100,000 in fines, but a TVA Inspector General report discloses that "significant" duct leaks also occurred at one of the agency's Tennessee plants and another plant in Kentucky.

TVA on Tuesday filed its annual report on compensation with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, with figures backing up earlier assertions its executives are paid well within the margins paid to those at comparable utilities. Tennessee Valley Authority President and CEO Tom Kilgore received $2,054,426 in total direct compensation during 2008, compared to $5,969,000 to top executives of comparable energy services companies, according to a chart filed by TVA with its report. Kilgore's package does not include stock options, employer contributions to retirement accounts or other compensation.

A former TVA chairman is stunned the nation's largest public utility is leading the country's nuclear revival now. S. David Freeman oversaw the cancellation of eight of 17 planned TVA reactors in the late 1970s and early 1980s after determining they were too expensive and unnecessary. But TVA's nuclear program has rebounded. It has six reactors online, is building a seventh and has applied to build two more at the Bellefonte site in Alabama.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized the reinstatement of the construction permits for Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) unfinished Unit 1 and 2 reactors at the Bellefonte site near Scottsboro, Ala. In 2006, having decided not to complete construction of the reactors, TVA requested that NRC withdraw the construction permits for the two Bellefonte units. However, in August 2008 TVA, citing changing power-generating economics, stated that completing the Bellefonte reactors may now be viable and requested that the NRC reinstate the permits. If the Bellefonte construction permits had remained in place, they would not have expired until 2011 and 2014, respectively. TVA also requested that the permits be reinstated with the reactors classified in the "deferred" status - a category indicating a plant's structures, equipment and records have been well maintained in a mothballed condition. The Commission denied that portion of the request. "The Commission Policy Statement on Deferred Plants is clear and demanding with respect to the condition of the facilities and the quality of plant records. The Bellefonte reactors simply do not meet that threshold right now," said NRC Chairman Dale Klein.

"Mr. Johnson said TVA "will decide by the end of the year" whether to finish the old or pursue the new option. When TVA suspended construction at Bellefonte in 1988, the Unit 1 reactor was judged to be nearly 90 percent complete."

Critics of TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant told regulators today that finishing another reactor is too risky and expensive. "The dangers are real and consequential," said Dr. Ross McCluney, a Chattanooga physicist and a member of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "I think TVA is a little off its rocker, proposing a 30-year-old nuclear power plant design with known safety problems." The Tennessee Valley Authority, which suspended construction of the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor in 1985, is the midst of a $2.5 billion program to finish the unit by 2012. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a hearing today on the environmental impact of finishing the Unit 2 reactor. TVA obtained a construction permit for Watts Bar in 1973, but the utility still must obtain an operating license once the reactor is finished. Today's hearing is part of the NRC's assessment of the plant.

Critics of TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant told regulators today that finishing another reactor is too risky and expensive. "The dangers are real and consequential," said Dr. Ross McCluney, a Chattanooga physicist and a member of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "I think TVA is a little off its rocker, proposing a 30-year-old nuclear power plant design with known safety problems." The Tennessee Valley Authority, which suspended construction of the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor in 1985, is the midst of a $2.5 billion program to finish the unit by 2012. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a hearing today on the environmental impact of finishing the Unit 2 reactor. TVA obtained a construction permit for Watts Bar in 1973, but the utility still must obtain an operating license once the reactor is finished. Today's hearing is part of the NRC's assessment of the plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, looking into security issues at TVA nuclear plants, has called on two former plant guards who talked to The Tennessean about lax safety standards that they said went ignored. The agency won't discuss the TVA situation and may never do so. The NRC's position is that security violations not be made public, said Roger Hannah, an agency spokesman in Atlanta. Advertisement Since Sept. 11, 2001, the federal government has clamped down on access to a lot of information related to nuclear plants and other facilities that officials deemed terrorists could use.

TVA releases billions of gallons of heated water into the Tennessee River each year, and the electricity-producer is on a path to release more, but the state-issued permit that allows the agency's Watts Bar nuclear plant to dump warmed water back into the river expired two years ago. TVA has asked the state to renew the plant's permit, but state environmental officials said last week they want more information about the water temperature there before they sign off on it.

TVA lost its federal appropriations for power in 1959 through a congressional act and became completely self-financed in 1999. It also started racking up debt, which in 2007 reached $24.7 billion, about 82 percent of the maximum $30 billion in debt. Many blame that debt on TVA's overeager nuclear program from the 1970s when, at one point, TVA had plans to build 17 nuclear power plants.

Tennessee Valley Authority, others express interest JACKSON --- The U.S. Energy Department is negotiating with the Tennessee Valley Authority and at least one other potential client to use mixed oxide fuels from a $4.86 billion facility under construction at Savannah River Site. The 600,000-square-foot complex, scheduled to open in 2016, will dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus, weapons-grade plutonium by using small amounts to make fuel for commercial nuclear reactors. Clay Ramsey, the National Nuclear Security Administration's MOX federal project director, said TVA has expressed strong interest in using the fuels in some of its six existing commercial reactors. TVA also has plans to complete a seventh reactor at Watts Bar and has proposed completing two more units at its Bellefonte site in Alabama.

Five environmental groups petitioned federal regulators Wednesday to block the only commercial nuclear reactor now under construction in the United States - an unfinished 1970s-era reactor the Tennessee Valley Authority is working to complete after three decades in mothballs. The groups claim TVA failed to consider the impact on the Tennessee River, public health and safety and the utility's need for more electricity when it revived a 1976 application for an operating license for the Watts Bar Plant Unit 2 reactor near Spring City, Tenn. "TVA keeps pushing for more nuclear reactors in spite of the massive cost overruns they always have when they build them," said Bill Reynolds, the nuclear committee chairman for the Sierra Club's Tennessee chapter.