TVA's Bellefonte Plant

This one is not a success story...

At one time, TVA had the most aggressive Nuclear Program in the industry. Had they completed the original plan, they probably could have shut down most, if not all, of their coal plants. Now, they are saddled with a debt load that would probably kill an investor owned utility, and three almost complete units, waiting for... who knows?

This would have been the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, near Scottsboro, Alabama. It was to have been a two unit light pressurized water reactor plant, similar to Sequoyah, which they did manage to complete and get on line, or Watts Bar, which after 20 years, got one unit on line in 1996. These units are good for 1138 Megawatts each, which would have kept a lot of coal unburned, and the air in the Southeast a lot cleaner.

We shot these pictures on the way back from Huntsville and our honeymoon, almost twenty years ago.

Today, TVA lists the status of the two units here, and the second unit at Watts Bar, as "deferred". In 1994 they determined that TVA would not complete them as nuclear plants, unless someone else partnered with them. Today there are studies to consider the conversion of Bellefonte to some form of fossil fuel. Just what we need, more air pollution to finish off the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

So, here's hoping that that plan fails, and that someday, Bellefonte will be completed as originally planned. TVA spends millions of dollars each year to keep the plant from deteriorating, so it may happen... we hope so!