TVA abandons plans for new reactors at Bellefonte

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy reports that plans to build two new reactors in Alabama, at Bellefonte have been abandoned.   The decision to ditch two AP1000 "new" reactors comes as nuclear energy becomes an ever less appealing financial option and as renewable energy soars.

 The SACE press release reads:

"Dealing yet another blow to the nuclear power industry, today the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) finally announced they were abandoning plans to build two new Toshiba-Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at their Bellefonte site in Hollywood, Alabama. The utility will file a motion with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) to withdraw their combined operating license application (COL), which they had originally filed in October 2007."

Perhaps TVA did not fail to notice the ballooning costs at two other reactor construction sites in the South. As the SACE press release pointed out:

"While the costs of solar, wind and energy efficiency have plummeted in recent years, costs for new nuclear reactors have skyrocketed. In the U.S. the four under-construction AP1000 reactors (two at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle in Georgia and two at SCANA’s V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina) have experienced massive cost overruns and significant construction delays. Both projects are at least 39-months delayed. Recent developments before the Georgia Public Service Commission have led to total estimated project costs increasing from approximately $14 billion in 2009 to nearly $22 billion.  Read the full press release.