TVA Seeks OK On 2 Nuclear Reactors

[Purveyor]

Source: The Huntsville Times

TVA officials and a consortium of energy companies will gather on Capitol Hill today to announce their plans to submit an application for construction of a nuclear plant at the Bellefonte site near Scottsboro.

It marks the formal step that was approved by the Tennessee Valley Authority board at a meeting in Huntsville last month. The board stressed at that meeting that its approval did not mean a commitment to build the reactor. But the application submission is the first major step in that process.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to take up to four years to review the application for design and construction of up to two reactors at Bellefonte.

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TVA spokesman John Moulton said the application filing gives TVA the option of building at Bellefonte, assuming NRC approval and assuming the project meets TVA's energy demand needs and cost structure.

TVA estimates that each reactor at Bellefonte would cost $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion and that construction work would take four to five years.




Read more: http://www.al.com/business/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/business/119373588446400.xml&coll=1

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Also of note from a related article:

The NRC said with the move toward more environmentally-friendly energy, officials expect at least 20 applications for 30 reactors over the next couple of years

[Judi Lynn]

1. Tennessee applies for 2 nuclear reactors

Source: Associated Press

Tennessee applies for 2 nuclear reactors
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
52 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Tennessee Valley Authority filed an application Tuesday for a license to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at a site in northern Alabama where it mothballed two reactor projects nearly two decades ago after investing billions of dollars.

The filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, made in conjunction with an industrial consortium called NuStart, was the second application for a new commercial reactor in just over a month and is expected to usher in more applications.

Bill McCollum, TVA's chief operating officer, said it would be up to the TVA Board to decide whether to proceed with construction, but applying for a license as part of the NuStart consortium "is a cost effective way to preserve TVA's nuclear power option."

The application is the first to the NRC for construction of a Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, which would be built at TVA's Bellefonte site near Hollywood, Ala., where it halted construction on a pair of reactors in 1988 as the tide turned against nuclear power.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071030/ap_on_go_ot/new_reactors;_ylt=A0WTcUwOsydH0VEBZRSyFz4D

[DeSwiss]

2. No! No! No!

Damn, I've got to move outta this state......

[Robbien]

3. Where does Tennessee plan on putting this new nuclear waste

Putting the huge danger of nuke plants aside, waste sites are just not available.

The current waste producers are talking about blowing tops off mountains in order to hide waste material inside.

[Massacure]

4. Woohoo!

That is that much less coal we have to burn! :bounce:

[MadHound]

5. Cool, so we can put all that waste in your neighborhood?

Sorry, but nuclear is not the answer. There are two major problems with nuclear power, the waste and what to do with it, and human error. Until there are solid answers to these problems, nuclear shouldn't even be considered.

And stop trying to make this out to be an either/or scenario. There are plenty of clean alternatives to coal, wind, solar, biodiesel, etc. We simply need the collective will to implement them.

[JeanGrey]

10. We've got to do something. If we don't do Nuclear power,

we cannot keep up what we are doing.

[Pavulon]

6. Works in France..Works here

sorry folks there is NO OTHER alternative other than nuclear to providing large energy loads. Cant smelt aluminum with windmill power.

[Purveyor]

7. Instead of squandering taxpayers dollars on 'new designs', the US should just buy the

'tried and proven' French designs but nooooooo! We need a 'make work' program for the engineering design firms so US companies can screw it up...again.

[Pavulon]

8. We make the best in the world,

by far. The us navy has a massive fleet of multi megawatt reactors. They have a ultra safe history of operation.

GE and Westinghouse are excellent products. There are several internationally accepted designs that can be used.

However the french model is effective.

[Massacure]

9. The yahoo article on this says that these reactors will be AP1000's by Westinghouse.

on edit: I should also mention that Westinghouse is owned primarily by Toshiba, a Japanese company. The Japanese have had a lot of success with nuclear reactors too.

[jpak]

11. Yes you can - and with hydro and geothermal power too

Most of the Al smelted in the US uses hydro-power - and Iceland will soon be using geothermal power to smelt Al.

No nuclear plants required.