Haney Assists “Zombie” Reactors

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Nuclear power is not only not the answer, it's a bigger problem

Let’s get this straight: Nuclear is not an answer! In the 21st century we are moving on to renewable energy for electricity generation. Coal, gas and nuclear are going the way of buggy whips. We didn’t run out of rocks either, but the Rock Age is over too. 

Apparently, wheeler-dealer Mr. Haney hasn’t gotten the message. Maybe he has been on his yacht with Qatar investors or spending time with friend President Trump at Mar-A-Lago negotiating ways to get government loans from we taxpayers. 

Haney made a down payment of $22 million on his $111 million bid for Bellefonte Nuclear Plant—a song since TVA spent more than $4 billion. The remainder is due in November. He then needs investors for construction and after that customers for the power produced. 

None of that is in place. Foreign nuclear investment is illegal and power produced in the TVA territory is only to be sold through TVA.

Dubbed zombie reactors by objectors in 2009, they keep trying to come back to life. TVA thought better of finishing them because power demand will be flat in the future. Here’s the perfect time for TVA to replace nuclear with solar, wind and battery storage as aging reactors come to relicensing time. 

Mr. Haney says he can produce nuclear power in five years. Fat chance. The equipment has been cannibalized. What’s left shows signs of rust and deterioration. Then there’s the licensing process where one has to prove the plant will conform to regulations. Most old records were pitched when TVA opted out. 

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes there is no viable future for nuclear power. Exxon said so too. Note the recent cancellation of construction at the Summer plant in South Carolina. Note extensive delays for the partially, likely never, completed, way-over-budget two Vogtle reactors in Georgia. 

The estimated Vogtle 2010 cost was $14 billion for 2021 completion. Now that cost has jumped to $25 billion and is at least 3 years behind schedule not to mention that the main contractor Westinghouse Electric Company declared bankruptcy. Ratepayers continue to bear the cost. 

Some say nuclear is good for climate change because it’s carbon-free. While it’s true that emissions at the reactor are carbon free, mining and getting uranium pellets to the reactor is not. New nuclear can’t be built with the urgency required to slow climate change, but solar and wind can be. 

Nuclear is not safe or healthy. Less carbon yes, but the trade-off is daily radioactivity, radioactive waste, and the risk of one bad day like Chernobyl. Pregnant women and young children are especially at risk. 

Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League’s Chapter BEST/MATRR based in Scottsboro, Alabama has completed radiation testing showing increased cancers downwind of Brown’s Ferry Nuclear Plant. Then there’s the unsolved waste issue. Presently high-level waste sits on nuclear sites eventually put in huge casks that don’t last as long as the radiation. Any transport increases risk to people along roads. 

Nuclear is not cheap. Nuclear industry folks desperately need customers since most methods for electricity are now cheaper especially gas. Hopes are pinned on technology like small modular reactors (SMRs). TVA has offered a site at a Clinch River site near Oak Ridge. No designs are approved and all admit that SMRs are more expensive per megawatt. Often not mentioned is cost required for decommissioning as plants close and associated on-going liabilities. Renewables win in the cost race. 

So, Mr. Haney, should you actually find the money to acquire the Bellefonte site, devise another plan. Turn Bellefonte into a 21st century example that brings long-term clean, safe jobs to Jackson County. Build on the scenic beauty and recreational benefits along Guntersville Lake. Those cooling towers could turn into climbing adventure towers with park activities and an educational center powered by solar along with a forest sequestering carbon to alleviate climate change. Line your pockets that way. Let the zombies die.

Sandra Kurtz is an environmental community activist, chair of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance, and is presently working through the Urban Century Institute. You can visit her website to learn more at enviroedu.net