Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station
Encyclopedia
The Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station is a partially completed nuclear power plant located in Hollywood, Alabama
. A total of four reactors have been proposed over a period of 40 years, and billions of dollars have been spent, but no electricity has yet been produced. The site has sat idle for more than 20 years and some spare parts have been taken from the two incomplete units. The Tennessee Valley Authority
board of directors recently approved a plan to restart construction of the Bellefonte Unit 1 reactor.
and is located in Hollywood, Alabama
. The two partially built 1,256 megawatt (MWe) pressurized water reactor
s on the site were made by Babcock and Wilcox
and are called a 205 design due to the number of fuel assemblies in the core. These units are of the same design as WNP-1
which is also unfinished, and as the Mulheim Karlich
A reactor in Germany that operated for three years and proved the design. Unit 1 was 88% complete and Unit 2 was 58% when development was suspended in 1988 after a $6 billion investment. Subsequent asset recovery
activities, along with more recent inspections of remaining equipment, resulted in BLN 1&2 now being considered approximately 55 percent and 35 percent complete, respectively.
Although the construction permits were terminated on September 15, 2006, TVA is investigating completion of these first two units with operation projected to start Unit 1 in 2017 and Unit 2 in 2021. In August 2008 TVA asked the NRC to reinstate the construction permits as part of the restart evaluation. This request was granted by the NRC on February 9, 2009, albeit as a terminated application which required significant inspection of all systems to bring the license to the deferred stage. The status was upgraded January 14, 2010 to deferred.
s to be called Units 3 and 4. TVA filed the necessary applications in November 2007 to begin the design and construction process. For details, see Nuclear Power 2010 Program
.
In August 2009, the Tennessee Valley Authority, faced with "falling electric sales and rising costs from cleaning up a massive coal ash spill in Tennessee
", trimmed plans for the potential four-unit Bellefonte nuclear plant to one reactor.
The rough estimate to complete BLN 1 by itself is between $4.2 and $4.8 billion in 2010 dollars.
The authority estimates unit 1 could be generating power as early as 2020, as part of a plan to generate half its energy from "low or zero carbon-emitting sources" by then.
On August 18, 2011, the TVA board of directors voted to move forward with the construction of the unit one reactor at Bellefonte.
Hollywood, Alabama
Hollywood is a town in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 950.-Geography:Hollywood is located at ....
. A total of four reactors have been proposed over a period of 40 years, and billions of dollars have been spent, but no electricity has yet been produced. The site has sat idle for more than 20 years and some spare parts have been taken from the two incomplete units. The Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
board of directors recently approved a plan to restart construction of the Bellefonte Unit 1 reactor.
Units 1 and 2
The Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station site is owned by the Tennessee Valley AuthorityTennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
and is located in Hollywood, Alabama
Hollywood, Alabama
Hollywood is a town in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 950.-Geography:Hollywood is located at ....
. The two partially built 1,256 megawatt (MWe) pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s on the site were made by Babcock and Wilcox
Babcock and Wilcox
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
and are called a 205 design due to the number of fuel assemblies in the core. These units are of the same design as WNP-1
WNP-1 and WNP-4
WNP-1 and WNP-4 were, along with the Columbia Generating Station and WNP-3 and WNP-5, two of the five nuclear power plants on which construction was started by Energy Northwest in the 1970s. In the end, WNP-1 was mothballed when 63% constructed, WNP-3, -4 and -5 abandoned, and only the Columbia...
which is also unfinished, and as the Mulheim Karlich
Mülheim-Kärlich Nuclear Power Plant
The nuclear power station Mülheim Kärlich lies on the Rhine, about 10 km northwest from Koblenz, close to the town Mülheim-Kärlich. The operating company was Société Luxembourgeoise de Centrales Nucléaires, a daughter company of RWE...
A reactor in Germany that operated for three years and proved the design. Unit 1 was 88% complete and Unit 2 was 58% when development was suspended in 1988 after a $6 billion investment. Subsequent asset recovery
Asset recovery
Asset Recovery, also called investment recovery or resource recovery, is the process of maximizing the value of unused or end of life assets through effective reuse or divestment. Both large and small organizations practice asset recovery at some level with the end goal of obtaining the greatest...
activities, along with more recent inspections of remaining equipment, resulted in BLN 1&2 now being considered approximately 55 percent and 35 percent complete, respectively.
Although the construction permits were terminated on September 15, 2006, TVA is investigating completion of these first two units with operation projected to start Unit 1 in 2017 and Unit 2 in 2021. In August 2008 TVA asked the NRC to reinstate the construction permits as part of the restart evaluation. This request was granted by the NRC on February 9, 2009, albeit as a terminated application which required significant inspection of all systems to bring the license to the deferred stage. The status was upgraded January 14, 2010 to deferred.
Units 3 and 4
On September 22, 2005 it was announced that Bellefonte was also selected as the site for one or two AP1000 pressurized water reactorPressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s to be called Units 3 and 4. TVA filed the necessary applications in November 2007 to begin the design and construction process. For details, see Nuclear Power 2010 Program
Nuclear Power 2010 Program
The "Nuclear Power 2010 Program" was unveiled by the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on February 14, 2002 as one means towards addressing the expected need for new power plants...
.
In August 2009, the Tennessee Valley Authority, faced with "falling electric sales and rising costs from cleaning up a massive coal ash spill in Tennessee
Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill
The TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill occurred just before 1 a.m. on Monday December 22, 2008, when an ash dike ruptured at an solid waste containment area at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee, USA. of coal fly ash slurry was...
", trimmed plans for the potential four-unit Bellefonte nuclear plant to one reactor.
Recent developments
On August 20, 2010 the TVA Board of Directors authorized $248 million to continue development of the Bellefonte Unit 1. Construction is expected to resume in 2011.The rough estimate to complete BLN 1 by itself is between $4.2 and $4.8 billion in 2010 dollars.
The authority estimates unit 1 could be generating power as early as 2020, as part of a plan to generate half its energy from "low or zero carbon-emitting sources" by then.
On August 18, 2011, the TVA board of directors voted to move forward with the construction of the unit one reactor at Bellefonte.
External links
- Bellefonte Image Gallery on Nukeworker website
- http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-19045.htm