Press Release-10-012, NRC Moves Unfinished Bellefonte Reactors to Deferred Status
| ML100140465 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Bellefonte  |
| Issue date: | 01/14/2010 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| References | |
| Press Release-10-012 | |
| Download: ML100140465 (2) | |
Text
NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.10-012 January 14, 2010 NRC MOVES UNFINISHED BELLEFONTE REACTORS TO DEFERRED STATUS The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the Tennessee Valley Authoritys (TVA) request to change the unfinished Bellefonte Unit 1 & 2 reactors to deferred status.
This is just one step in a long list of actions TVA must complete before they resume construction at Bellefonte, said Eric Leeds, director of the NRCs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Well continue inspecting TVAs efforts to ensure theyre maintaining the site and all the information necessary to support the plant in deferred status.
Placing Bellefonte in deferred status lets TVA further evaluate the viability of completing construction and attempting to license the reactors for operation. TVA submitted a request Aug. 10, 2009, to move the reactors to deferred status. The NRCs review of the requests supporting information included inspection of the Bellefonte site, near Hollywood, Ala., in October 2009. Unit 1s construction permit will expire Oct. 1, 2011, and Unit 2s permit will expire Oct. 1, 2014. TVA has not indicated if it will seek to extend the permits, nor when it might seek to restart construction activities. TVA has indicated it will give the NRC 120 days advance notice of any construction work, as well as provide information laid out in Commission policy to support such a decision.
The Commission, in February 2009, authorized the staff to take the unique step of reinstating the permits, which TVA had withdrawn in 2006. TVA had asked the NRC to reinstate the permits for Bellefonte in August 2008.
The NRC staff issued an Order on March 9, 2009, reinstating the permits in a terminated status, meaning that TVA had to provide additional information to show the plants could be changed to deferred status, which would be necessary to put the plants on a path to possible future construction. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy are challenging the NRCs Order before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
The agency granted construction permits for Bellefontes two pressurized-water reactors in 1974. By 1988, when TVA deferred completion of the plant, Unit 1 was approximately 88
percent complete, and Unit 2 was approximately 58 percent complete. There is no nuclear fuel on the site. The Bellefonte site is located on approximately 1,600 acres adjacent to the Tennessee River in northern Alabama.
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