Another wheel falls off the nuclear revival bandwagon

[kristopher]

Much ado was made about how the TVA's plans to complete the Bellefonte nuclear plant in Alabama (mothballed for 30 years) was proof-positive of the inevitable resurgence of the modern nuclear industry.

In the furor over the sudden permanent shutdown of the San Onofre plant in California, this rather telling story got little notice. I think we can take efforts to paint this in some circles as a cutback to "revive" the plant as typical Doublespeak from the Dirty Nuclear Industry (to filch a recently used phrase). In the article below it is phrased as "pace of work will slow to better align with future demand", followed two paragraphs later with the note that the plant was mothballed in '85 because "TVA determined it had no immediate need for the power".

Yep, that revival is just around the corner.

TVA to cut 400 jobs at Bellefonte Nuclear Plant

The Tennessee Valley Authority is cutting 400 contract and TVA employees working at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama, sources said today.

By September, TVA expects to have cut its current 540-person staff working at Bellefonte to about 140 workers. TVA spokesman Mike Bradley said the utility will still conduct engineering studies and analysis on the Babcock & Wilcox-design reactors, but the pace of work will slow to better align with future power projections.

...

TVA was granted a construction permit in December 1974 to build two reactors at the Bellefonte site on the Tennessee River in Jackson County, Ala. But work was halted in 1985 when TVA determined it had no immediate need for the power that could be generated from the twin reactors.

TVA had invested more than $4 billion building the first two reactors at Bellefonte, but in 2009 TVA decided to scrap those original reactors and pursue a new Westinghouse design promoters said would be safer and more efficient. But two years later, TVA reversed course and resurrected a study on the plant when TVA directors approved the restart of construction in 2011....

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/12/tva-cut-400-jobs-bellefonte-nuclear-plant/

[Demeter]

1. Need Zombie Killer Tactics for Really Bad Ideas in USA

because the damn things just won't stay dead.

[kristopher]

6. Especially if it's corporate welfare. nt

[pscot]

2. The Scherer, Bowen and Miller power plants

are owned by the Southern Company and serve the same region as TVA. They run on fossil fuels. They produce about 60 million MWh of energy and dump 65 million tons of CO2 every year. Is that really the better choice?

[FBaggins]

3. Neither the company's spin nor kris' has it right.

The real issue is that the "new" unit at Watts-Barr is delayed and they can't handle two projects at the same time and prepare for the new SMRs they're looking at. Demand that's well below years-ago projections only helps to make that call.

Bellefonte was always going to be behind Watts Bar... so if that unit is delayed, they don't need to pay 500+ people to do work that now won't be done in some cases for years.

And, of course, the train doesn't stop there. I'm sure they'll also push back any consideration of units 3&4 (future AP1000s)... or just consider switching to SMRs.

[kristopher]

5. All of which = Wheels Falling Off Nuclear Revival Bandwagon

I was aware of Watts Barr, and your attempt to use it as spin doesn't help your case. The cascading failures of the "Revival" are evidence of success only in the mind of truly brainwashed by the nuclear industry.

[cprise]

9. I thought Capt. Nuclear was going to save us from fossil fuels.

Tsk! What happened to his nuclear baseload superpowers? ...his sense of duty?

What's that?? There are no coal plants left in Alabama or the Southeastern grid for nuclear to displace? Ha.

The 'Low demand' excuse is emblematic of how unsuitable their mindset is to any kind of sustainable development. They show up for work in the morning for this only: The hope that people will consume more and more from their rarefied sources so their establishment can perch upon higher and higher pedestals.

[kristopher]

4. Bellefonte was IN ADDITION TO the coal, not instead of.

When are you going to get it through your head that the economics of nuclear Reinforce the economics of coal?

If you want to shut down coal plants, spend the Bellefonte money on solar and wind. Their output will steal market share from coal and push the coal plants into the red, eventually shutting them down.

[PuffedMica]

7. I would bet Southern Company has more money for lobbyists than TVA

The Southern Company sends its hired guns to Congress and gets TVA to stand down. That way SC gets to sell more in the market. It makes no difference to SC weather the power is nuke or coal; bottom line profit is where their interest lies.

[kristopher]

8. Nope

The entire program is justified by growth in demand - a growth that (as frequently happens when soliciting money for nuclear projects) was grossly overstated even if the economy hadn't crumpled. The coal plants are there and there was no premise where bringing these nuclear plants online was going to shut them down. The calculus was and is COAL + NUCLEAR not + NUCLEAR - COAL.