TVA Quarterly Board Meeting, Apr. 18, 2013 at Columbia, Tn. - Special Disclosure on TVA Nuclear Decommissioning Fund Status

 

AGENDA

 

BEST/MATRR short video of Listening Session




BEST/MATRR short video of the Board Meeting, Finance highlights



TVA's videos and presentation of the Apr. 18, 2013 Quarterly Board Meeting
Links:
News Release
TVA Presentation (PDF)
Video of listening session (Windows Media)
Video of meeting (Windows Media)
Video shown at meeting (Windows Media)

TVA Privatization
The TVA has been ablaze with discussion as of late concerning President Obama's budget proposal concerning the TVA. Bloomberg on the issue: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/obama-mulls-sale-of-tennessee-valley-authority-in-budget-plan.html "President Barack Obama is considering the sale of all or part of the Tennessee Valley Authority (3015A), the largest publicly owned U.S. power company, in a deal that may raise as much as $35 billion as the administration seeks to reduce the national debt."

"A potential sale is part of a “strategic review” of the Knoxville, Tennessee-based nonprofit, which faces increasing capital costs, according to the administration’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal released yesterday. A sale may yield $30 billion to $35 billion in cash and reduced government debt obligations, said Travis Miller, a Chicago-based analyst for Morningstar Inc. (MORN) "

TVA leadership welcomes debt review: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/apr/19/tva-leaders-welcome-debt-review/  "President and CEO Bill Johnson and board Chairman Bill Sansom said they believe TVA is "a good business model" that is funded totally by ratepayers, not taxpayers.
"We'll cooperate and participate, and we're glad to see the review. In the meantime, we've got to focus and direct management's attention on running the place right," Sansom said at a board meeting Thursday in Columbia, Tenn."

Nuclear Decommissioning - NRC's out of date plan and policy: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/decommissioning.html

TVA Funds - Nuclear decommissioning trust fund balance at the end of fiscal 2012 (Sept. 30, 2012) $1,165,216,096;  2011 was $945,961,913; 2009 was $660.5 million. Information provided via request to TVA.

TVA's Nuclear Decommissioning Fund status in its annual SEC 10K report will not be found and the report listing is confusing. TVA's 2012 10K Annual Financial Report reflects deferred costs, page 98. No where in the financial report are the actual decommissioning funds on hand listed. Pg 73 contains a discussion. http://investor.shareholder.com/tva/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1376986-12-43

 

"GAO investigated 12 reactors’ trust funds, comparing company-prepared site-specific decommissioning cost estimates to NRC’s formula. For nine reactors, NRC’s formula resulted in funds below the companies’ estimates. In one case, a company believed it needed $836 million, which was $362 million more than NRC’s formula figure. GAO also noted NRC’s funding formula was more than 30 years old." http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i13/Nuclear-Retirement-Anxiety.html

"Decommissioning a Nuclear Plant Can Cost $1 Billion and Take Decades:" http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/idUS178883596820110613

TVA's nuclear decommissioning funds on hand are not sufficient and rely on NRC's 30 year antiquated policy. Current TVA nuclear plant decommissioning fund status below as reported to the NRC.

Nuclear decommissioning trust fund balance at the end of fiscal 2012 (Sept. 30, 2012) $1,165,216,096.

Current long operating nuclear plant decommissioning costs per plant are estimated to be $800-$900 million per reactor. TVA is seriously lacking in their decommissioning fund.  (Decommissioning Trust Fund Balance provided by TVA. The table reflects the official report provided the NRC.) 

Silly "AFP" - here is the You Tube address: http://youtu.be/paxDogM6MjU they post this video on You Tube, a Google entity, but AFP will not allow a You Tube video to be played on Google Blogger?

Jackson County Commission, Apr. 23, 2013 Scottsboro, Al.

Jackson Co. Courthouse, South side - Peachtree & Broad St., photo by G. Morgan

 

Monday was Jefferson Davis's birthday, a state holiday. The commission meeting was held Tuesday.

 

AGENDA

 

VIDEO

 

Scottsboro City Council Regular Session - Apr. 22, 2013

 

Monday, April 22, 2013 was a regular session of the Scottsboro City Council.

Tourism Advisory Board to be formed, each council member plus the Mayor will appoint a representative. Two Fireman were honored and the Landfill Gas project expansion will go forward. Mr. Paul Jacobs, a multi-engine jet pilot, was appointed to the Airport Advisory Board.

 

AGENDA

 

VIDEO

 

Scottsboro City Council Work Session Apr. 15, 2013

 

Monday Apr. 15, 2013 was a work session of the Scottsboro City Council.

 

AGENDA

 

VIDEO

 

Apr. 8, 2013 Scottsboro City Council Regular Session

 

Monday Apr. 8, 2013 was a regular session of the Scottsboro City Council.

 

AGENDA

 

 

VIDEO

Apr. 8, 2013 Jackson County Commission, Regular Session

Jackson County Courthouse, south side, photo by G. Morgan. Monday was a regular meeting of the Jackson County Commission. Video and Agenda below.

 

AGENDA

 

VIDEO

 

TVA and NRC Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Fund Negligence

 

A picture of TVA negligence, the Kingston Coal Ash Dam Collapse

 

TVA's nuclear power plant decommissioning fund reflects negligence and mismanagement on the part of TVA and the requirements of the regulator, the NRC.

 

TVA's Nuclear Decommissioning Fund status, 2012 Annual Financial Report, page 98, concerns deferred costs only. No where in the financial report are the actual decommissioning funds on hand listed. Pg 73 contains a discussion.  http://investor.shareholder.com/tva/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1376986-12-43 TVA officials report the 2012 fund status as $1.165 billion as reflected in the required report to the NRC.

 

"GAO investigated 12 reactors’ trust funds, comparing company-prepared site-specific decommissioning cost estimates to NRC’s formula. For nine reactors, NRC’s formula resulted in funds below the companies’ estimates. In one case, a company believed it needed $836 million, which was $362 million more than NRC’s formula figure. GAO also noted NRC’s funding formula was more than 30 years old." http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i13/Nuclear-Retirement-Anxiety.html

"Decommissioning a Nuclear Plant Can Cost $1 Billion and Take Decades:" http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/idUS178883596820110613

 

 

Who manages TVA's nuclear decommissioning fund? Students at 25 of the Southeast's Universities manage TVA's Nuclear Decommissioning funds - in part. http://www.tva.com/investmentchallenge/pdf/ic_brochure.pdf

 

"As a public entity, TVA has an inherent duty to accurately and plainly inform its stakeholders about its financial condition. This entails more than merely doing what the law requires in the way of disclosures to potential investors. In our view, most members of Congress and the general public do not have the time to decipher TVA's 10Q to the SEC. Our report is intended to make TVA's finances more transparent to the Congress and the general public."

TVA OIG INSPECTION 2007-11399 – REVIEW OF TVA'S FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

http://oig.tva.gov/PDF/09rpts/2007-11399.pdf

 

Summary: TVA's nuclear decommissioning fund is seriously underfunded. The current estimated cost to decommission a nuclear power plant is reflected in the "Chemical & Engineering News" article, $840 million.

 

 

The nuclear decommissioning under-funding status is reflective of negligence on the part of several parties, TVA & the NRC, who are the decision makers and regulators in this matter. To decommission 3 of TVA's 6 current operating nuclear power reactors would cost over $2.5 billion dollars. If we utilize TVA's financial figures they have a serious deficit for the decommissioning fund, $1.165 billion funded (Sep 2012). TVA needs over 4 times that amount for 6 plants. This deficit stands to significantly effect TVA ratepayer electricity costs in the future if TVA and/or the NRC does not take appropriate action to correct the seriously underfunded status of TVA's decommissioning account.

 

 

The NRC must bear part of this negligent action due to their failure to update the 30 year old decommissioning fund requirement. Information from the NRC site regarding decommissioning sums up this problem: OIG/95A-20 - NRC's Decommissioning Financial Assurance Requirements for Federal Licensees May Not Be Sufficient - "We found that NRC's decision to allow Federal licensees to use a statement of intent to meet decommissioning funding requirements for their nuclear power plants was based primarily on the assumption that the Federal Government would pay the financial obligations of the lone Federal licensee, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), should it be unable to do so. However, based on our review of the U.S. Code and discussions with officials from the Department of Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget and TVA, we believe NRC's assumption is questionable. We also believe the NRC staff responsible for developing and reviewing the rule did not conduct sufficient analysis to determine whether allowing Federal licensees to use a statement of intent was appropriate."

"We also found that, although not required, TVA has established a fund dedicated to meet its decommissioning obligations. However, because this is an internal fund it can be used for other purposes. In fact, TVA had at one time temporarily depleted its decommissioning fund." http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-gen/1996/95a-20.html

GAO Report Recommendation on Nuclear Decommissioning Funds: "To further strengthen NRC’s oversight of decommissioning funding assurance, the NRC Commissioners should better ensure that licensees are providing reasonable assurance that they will have the necessary funds and improve the consistency of information the agency collects by continuing these reviews of fund balances in a way that is most efficient and effective for the agency." http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-258

TVA Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, NRC Relicensing - Videos on Citizen Presentations

TVA photo of the Sequoyah Nuclear Reactors

April 3, 2013, Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Scoping Session (public comments) for the relicensing of Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Sequoyah Nuclear Plant (SQN) located near Soddy-Daisy, Tn.

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant seeks 20-year NRC license extension: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/apr/04/sequoyah-seeks-20-year-nrc-license-extension/

Design of the Sequoyah Nuclear Reactor.

 

Informational links on TVA's Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

1) Demographics, population - http://archive.knoxmpc.org/locldata/popdata/tn_counties_hist_pop.pdf increase of population since 1980 in surrounding counties averages 15-20%

2) ROP Inspection Reports: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofrpts_body.html scroll down to Sequoyah

3) TVA Financial Report: http://investor.shareholder.com/tva/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1376986-12-43 pg 73, 98 decommissioning fund; debt market pg 45, 46; selected financial info pg 50; pg 88 - note at the top of the page on the spread sheet the amount of decreasing net income over the past 2 years, since 2010 TVA's net income loss is in excess of $900 million dollars; that is very significant. Debt repayment, decreased sales of power and the problems with TVA's retirement are all significant factors.

4) Temp Instruction & Inspection Reports http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-manual/temp-instructions/

5) Press reports/issues in the news: a) Tritium detected in groundwater at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant- http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/dec/21/tritium-detected-in-sequoyah-groundwater/ b) Flood Protection - http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/mar/18/tva-cited-failing-adequately-protect-sequoyah-watt/ Non-certified parts c) http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/mar/29/tva-cited-for-not-testing-nuclear-parts/?local d) EPZ evacuation http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/dec/17/tva-state-promote-nuclear-accident/ e) Knoxville News Sentinel Sequoyah file: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/topic/sequoyah-nuclear-plant/?page=1 e) Ripping the top off of Sequoyah: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/oct/06/ripping-the-top-off-sequoyah-tennessee-nuclear/ notethe close location of the homes to the nuclear plant. No substantial contamination says experts. How do they know if there was no monitoring of low level radiation in the neighborhoods surrounding the plant?

6) Original GAO staff study outlining many problems with the Ice-Condenser design of Sequoyah - http://archive.gao.gov/f0402/097098.pdf

7) UCS Sequoyah history - http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/sequoyah-1-i.pdf

8) NRC Investigation of Tritium leak into groundwater 2010 report http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1100/ML110050288.pdf 2007 report http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1100/ML110050288.pdf

9) Scram problems http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/dec/15/nrc-flags-sequoyah-plant-over-shutdowns/

10) TVA Nuclear History and records disposition http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/rcs/schedules/independent-agencies/rg-0142/n1-142-89-016_sf115.pdf Sequoyah info begins on pg 48

11) Current, complete TVA SEIS document including history: http://www.tva.com/environment/reports/sqn-renewal/

12) Emergency Evacuation, a) Homeland Security Evac Evaluation, in the executive Summary pg 4; http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1111/ML111160547.pdf b) 2012 TVA Sequoya info: http://www.tva.com/power/nuclear/pdf/sqn_2012_emergencyinfo.pdf The 10 mile EPZ in not sufficient taking into consideration the lessons learned from Fukushima. c) TVA 2012 EVAC Study, Nov 2012 http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1236/ML12362A476.pdf

 

VIDEOS OF CITIZEN COMMENTS

 

PART 1

 

PART 2




PART 3




Part 4

 

Presentation by Attorney Brian Paddock




Economics Before Safety

Apr 1, 2013 Scottsboro City Council Work Session

 

Monday, April 1, 2013,  Work Session of the Scottsboro City Council. Issues discussed: a) Resolution for permanent road block locations for organizations such as the Rescue Squad and the Shriners. Other business involved discussions involved - b) expansion of the Land Fill Methane power generation project. Last year the landfill gas capture and power generation project resulted in power generation for the landfill and over $100K of power sold back to the TVA. c) Councilman Smith gave report on repayment of property tax overpayment error. The city of Scottsboro will be required to pay back $188K for an overpayment made to the city for the year 2010-2011.

 

 The Mayor reported on concerns involving the Legislative Delegation's distribution of the TVA-in-lieu-of-tax. Mayor Potter pointed out that the current system of distribution is unfair to Jackson County Municipalities.

 

There is a pending law suit filed by former Jackosn County Commissioner Horrace Clemmons against the Delegation. Attorneys have stated the law involving the Legislative Delegation is unconstitutional. This has been a long standing issue in which the Delegation has been historically abusing their power. The current system of funds distribution violates the Open Meetings Act. The Delegation appointed a "Discretionary Fund Board" which operates in secrecy. The Delegation has not released any fund distribution information nor information involving deliberations of fund distribution.

 

AGENDA

 

VIDEO

 

Apr. 1, 2013 Jackson County Commission Work Session

 

Jackson County Commission work session, Apr. 1, 2013. Community Service garden work planned for juvenile delinquents, 1st agenda item on video. Other issues include Solid Waste Disposal Plan, school tax holiday, inmate services, local gas tax resolution.

  

AGENDA

 

VIDEO