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Nuclear Brownout

Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant

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"TVA may lack the money needed to make Browns Ferry Unit 1 fit into either the operating plant or permanently closed plant categories. It will cost a lot to do the work necessary to bring Unit 1 into the 1990's and back into compliance with the requirements of its operating license."

David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, in testimony given before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, October 26, 1998
Established in 1933, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the nation's largest public power company. TVA services the southeastern United States, including almost all of Tennessee and parts of Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA wants to spend at least $2.1 billion of its $30 billion in federal borrowing authority to restart an antiquated and troubled nuclear reactor that has been idle for 17 years. The 1960s-vintage reactor at Browns Ferry located near Decatur, Alabama started generating electricity on the banks of the Tennessee River in August of 1974. In 1985, TVA closed the three units of the Browns Ferry plant after admitting to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that its architectural drawings did not match the physical layout of the plants, posing potential safety and security problems. In 1991 and 1995, respectively, TVA restarted Units 2 and 3 of the Browns Ferry site.

Green Scissors Proposal

Congress and the administration should reject proposals by TVA to restart Browns Ferry reactor Unit 1. This will cost at least $2.1 billion with no guarantee that TVA can restart the reactor.

Current Status

In May 2002, TVA's Board approved restarting Browns Ferry Unit 1 despite having no business plan.

Project Hurts Taxpayers

The $2.1 billion restart costs (including interest) will add to an already overwhelming debt load. TVA currently holds $25.4 billion in debt, and is approaching the $30 billion debt cap established by Congress.

In March of 2002, TVA walked away from a $360 million gas-fired power plant project after spending $150 million on its development. TVA cited, in part, insufficient market demand to justify continued development of the gas plant. The Browns Ferry reactor would put twice as much power into the market as the gas plant that TVA already said was unnecessary - but at five times the price. This would waste taxpayer dollars.

Project Hurts the Environment

Aging nuclear plants are more likely to experience mechanical problems. In addition to restarting the Browns Ferry reactor, TVA also proposes boosting Unit 1's generating capacity from 1,050 megawatts to nearly 1,300 megawatts and extending the reactor's operating license, currently scheduled to expire in 2013, for an additional 20 years. This threatens public health and safety.

The containment system for the Browns Ferry Unit 1 is of notoriously weak design which makes it vulnerable to accidental overpressurization and over-temperature accidents as well as deliberate acts of sabotage from the crash of general and commercial aircraft.

As the nation's largest utility, TVA is the nation's second largest emitter of nitrogen oxides and the third largest emitter of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. Restarting Unit 1 will reduce funds available to install controls on old coal-fired power plants.

Contacts

Dick Munson, Northeast-Midwest Institute, (202) 544-5200
Autumn Hanna, Taxpayers for Common Sense (202) 546-8500
Lisa Gue, Public Citizen, (202) 546-4996
David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, (202) 223-6133 x137
Jim Ricchio, Greenpeace, (202) 319-2487

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