TVA Quarterly Board Meeting at Chattanooga, Tennessee February 11, 2016

TVA Power Fist - Fair Use for non-profit news reporting and commentary

UPDATE: February 17, 2016 - TVA Seeking Input Regarding Potential Sale of the Bellefonte Nuclear Facility near Scottsboro, Al. article in Scottsboro's Clarion Newspaper: http://www.theclarion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9821:tva-seeks-comment-on-potential-sale-of-bellefonte-nuclear&catid=55:news&Itemid=143

Ghosts of Bellefonte - photo by G. Morgan

TVA looking to sell Bellefonte property - Johnson say's "TVA needs to weigh merits of generation, development."

“As we consider this decision, it is important that we hear from interested stakeholders, potential site developers and the general public,” said TVA President and CEO Bill Johnson. “TVA has been investing at a minimal level to preserve the Bellefonte site for future generating use, should we need it.” 

“The 2015 Integrated Resource Plan, completed with public input, indicates it may be two decades before additional large baseload generation is needed,” he said. “It’s time we answer the question of whether TVA is serving the public well by retaining control of the Bellefonte site, or if others could make more beneficial use of it. And with economic development as a cornerstone of our mission, TVA wants to know if there is an entity interested in investing and creating jobs at this location.” 

The public comment period runs through March 18. There is no public meeting scheduled.

http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2016/02/tva-considers-sale-of-bellefonte-nuclear-plant-site.html

TVA Press Release - https://www.tva.com/Newsroom/Bellefonte

Recent suggestions to sell the facility.

http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2013/12/21/privatizing-bellefonte-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Rumor has been circulating locally that Tom Kilgore, former TVA CEO and Jackson Co. resident, will head up an effort to bring the facility into a power generation mode utilizing new and current assets financed by external players in a VIE, variable interest entity (sell-lease back), type of plan. Locally, EDA representatives are denying this plan.

My thoughts, Nuclear Power proponents are their own worse enemy, they do not look realistically at the truth about cost at the front and the end of such projects. Deceit has become a debilitating culture within the civilian nuclear power industry. There is a penchant for shortcuts to save money. This presents a serious problem in regards to safety, security and Human Reliability

TVA BOARD MEETING

Thursday, February 11, 2016 the Tennessee Valley Authority met in Chattanooga, Tn. for its 1st quarter board meeting.

AGENDA

https://www.tva.com/file_source/TVA/Site%20Content/About%20TVA/Our%20Leadership/Board%20of%20Directors/pdf/TVA%20Board%20Meeting%20Agenda-Feb%2011%202016.pdf

TVA SLIDE PRESENTATION

https://www.tva.com/file_source/TVA/Site%20Content/About%20TVA/Our%20Leadership/Board%20of%20Directors/pdf/Feb%2011%202016%20Board%20Deck.pdf

TVA BOARD of DIRECTORS WEB SITE

https://www.tva.com/About-TVA/Our-Leadership/Board-of-Directors

PRESS REPORTS

Supreme Court delay of Clean Power Plan won't affect TVA

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/feb/13/court-delay-clepower-plwont-affect-tvafederal/349994/

Nuclear group picks TVA's Bill Johnson as governing board chairman

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/feb/12/nuclear-group-picks-tvas-bill-johnson-governing-board-chairman/349805/

TVA retirees 'reject' proposal to cut $700 million from underfunded pension plan

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/feb/12/tvretirees-appeal-better-plshore-underfunded/349781/

TVA Engineer of the Year

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/feb/11/frye-named-tva-engineer-year/349687/

Bellefonte 3 & 4, motion has been filed to abandon licensing of the AP1000 Reactor project. "It's time to quit wasting money pursuing this project that TVA can't afford," said Garry Morgan, a Scottsboro resident and critic of the Bellefonte project... "We welcome TVA's decision to slow the financial hemorrhage at Bellefonte 3 and 4," Dr. Stephen A. Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said in a statement today. "We strongly encourage TVA to go ahead and close the books on the 42-year old Bellefonte 1 and 2 reactor units, which will never be completed, saving more money and allowing Northern Alabama to move into the 21st century with new economic opportunities like Google, energy efficiency and clean solar power." 

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/feb/12/tva-abandon-new-reactor-design-bellefonte/349888/

Bellefonte 1,2,3,4 - TVA's Dream, Ratepayers Nightmare

TVA Wastes Their Time and Our Money - Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team/Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation, a chapter of Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, presented a report on Friday showing TVA’s "waste of money on nuclear power."   The group called for a withdrawal of the operating license for Bellefonte nuclear power plant in Hollywood, Al. 

"TVA is not being transparent with the public about their debt and operational costs,” said Garry Morgan, BEST/MATRR treasurer. “They operate under a veil of fractured accounting making it very difficult to figure out their total financial status"..."As we move into a world of solar and wind energy, those sites could be used for safer economic alternatives without radioactive trash and with cleaner air and water for the health of our citizens,” said Gretel Johnston, BEST/MATRR member. " 

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2016/2/12/317895/BESTMATRR-Officials-Say-TVA-Wastes.aspx

TVA Finances - debt and liabilities are much higher than reported. All commitments listed on the TVA 1st quarter financial report below. (Click on image for an expanded view.)

VIDEOS

Listening Session - Selected Presentations

Chattanooga, Tennessee - February 11, 2016. TVA Quarterly Board Meeting, Listening Session, input from the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, and their local chapter, The Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team and Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation. We asked the TVA to stop wasting resources and our rate-payer dollars on the charade of Bellefonte Units 3 & 4, 2 proposed AP 1000 Nuclear Reactors estimated to cost between $12 & 15 Billion in today's dollars

 Concerned citizens from various environmental groups in the Tennessee River Valley discuss issues with the TVA Board.


TVA BOARD PRESENTATIONS - Presidents Report - Financial Report - Engineer of the Year, etc.
                         TVA Board Meeting Intro, TVPPA


TVA Industrial Committee Report, Presidents Report, Engineer of the Year Award, Pension Issue.


 TVA Board Meeting Bylaws, Regulatory Issues, Financial Report, Nuclear Oversight-CEO Appointed as WANO Chair, External Relations/People and Performance Committees, Appointment of Joe Ritch as Chair of TVA Board.

Plutonium at nuke plant? - Decaturdaily.com

BLN, Bellefonte proposed Nuclear Units 1 & 2.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.
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Plutonium at nuke plant? - Decaturdaily.com

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Excerpt from the Decatur Daily: "A Public hearing is set Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 on Energy Department plan to use weapons-grade fuel at Browns Ferry."
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"The U.S. Department of Energy will hold a public meeting Tuesday at Calhoun Community College’s aerospace building from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to discuss plans to use mixed uranium-plutonium oxide, a processed version of weapons-grade plutonium, at TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Limestone County. "

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Dr. Ed Lyman,PhD., specialist and expertise in Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons & Global Security-Nuclear Terrorism, Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.. Dr Lyman, among others, will speak at the Decatur Hearings Tuesday in regards to the danger of utilizing Plutonium Mixed Oxide fuel in TVA's atomic reactors.. http://www.ucsusa.org/news/experts/edwin-lyman.html Dr Lyman has stated the following in regards to an error in the Decatur article: "The story has a mistake in the amount of plutonium that TVA reactors would have to dispose of - it's actually at least 34 metric tons. The seven tons mentioned in the story would be additional to the 34 metric tons."
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Browns Ferry is west 55 air miles from Scottsboro.

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Dr. Lyman will be in Scottsboro Monday to meet with the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, BEST. We will be discussing with Dr. Lyman usage of weapons grade Plutonium in TVA's aging reactors and TVA's manufactoring of Tritium in its reactors.
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The probability is very high that the TVA will use Plutonium oxide fuel and will manufacture Tritium in the Bellefonte Reactor Facility if the reactor becomes operational.
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BEST has extended a Hand of Friendship to the TVA for a sit down discussion and tour of Bellefonte to discuss various concerns over degraded equipment and issues related to engineering, geology-hydrology, tritium manufacture, usage of Plutonium fuel and security problems related to Bellefonte. Risk & Reliability factors have not been considered when utilizing plutonium fuel in the reactors designed for uranium fuel usage. The TVA at the Executive level has refused our offer for a meeting.
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In other information concerning Bellefonte, the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals action filed due to the NRC's circumvention of Atomic Reactor Construction Licensing Safety and Procedures regarding Bellefonte's construction license will proceed. The respondents, the NRC and the TVA, attempted to have the case thrown out. The judges agreed with the actions of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Petitioners, the case has merit and will proceed.
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It is the Petitioners position the NRC and the TVA have attempted to take shortcuts and violated Atomic Reactor Construction Licensing Safety and Proceedures in the licensing process resulting in a Federal Appeals Court Case which will now proceed.

Nuclear Power--Nuclear Meltdown for France

Location of French Nuclear Plants. 80% of Frances nuclear power is produced from these plants.

TVA's Bellefonte Dream. Artists conception of Nuclear Reactor Units 1,2,3, and 4. Units 1 & 2 are currently 50% complete. Units 3 & 4 are in the planning phase and not approved either as to the reactor design or site construction. The NRC has granted a "Terminated Status" concerning the stripped Reactors of Units 1 & 2. The NRC is being sued concerning the reinstatement of construction permits that were previously cancelled. The reinstatement of the cancelled construction permits without due process violated the NRC's Atomic Licensing policy.

The ghostly cooling towers of Bellefonte Units 1 & 2 set idle. Approximately $4-5 billion has been spent to date in the Bellefonte project with no power being generated since construction began in the late 1970's. To complete units 1 & 2 it is estimated that costs will be from $6-8 billion at current market values. Costs are estimated at $18 billion currently for the construction of units 3 & 4.

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Much has been said about the benefits of French Nuclear power. What is not said is the key to the rest of the story. The short of it, the French are in trouble financially over the French Nuclear program . They have placed all their "power eggs" into the "one nuclear basket" and they are being crushed by economic conditions and nuclear accidents. A truth that America's Nuclear industry is attempting to hide.

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"The myth of a successful nuclear power industry in France has melted into financial chaos.
With it dies the corporate-hyped poster child for a "nuclear renaissance" of new reactor construction that is drowning in red ink and radioactive waste."

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"Areva, France's nationally-owned corporate atomic facade, has plunged into a deep financial crisis led by a devastating shortage of cash." The rest of the story from "Counter Punch, America's best political newsletter." http://www.counterpunch.org/wasserman03192009.html

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The following fact sheet was compiled by Bill Reynolds of Chattanooga, Tn., a fellow Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team Member.

"French Nuclear Power – Hidden Problems Revealed"

What you hear and see in American mainstream media about nuclear power in France is created and controlled by the nuclear industry’s powerful, extremely well-organized and well-financed “public relations” campaign. They are out to sell you as many of their extremely expensive nuclear reactors [as] our government and largest electric power corporations will buy, with money collected from you and me. Their sales campaign has effectively brainwashed many of America’s elected officials into believing such things as French-style nuclear power is clean, safe, affordable, and has solved the problems of radioactive waste. So you hear this sales message of the nuclear industry not only from the mouths of the industry’s highly skilled and highly paid salesmen and lobbyists, but also from the mouths of a lot of America’s high ranking government officials. Meanwhile, the serious and dangerous problems in French nuclear power are covered up so you do not hear about those. Only research by real experts who look for the whole truth reveals the covered-up problems and dangers. The following accounts some big problems uncovered by those experts.

· On July 8, 2008, the AREVA1 subsidiary-operated Tricastin nuclear facility in France spilled uranium into two rivers that provided drinking and irrigation water to the local communities. On July 23, at least 100 workers were contaminated during an accident at one of the four reactors at the Tricastin site. On August 6, the French nuclear security agency (ASN) announced the same facility had also emitted unacceptable levels of Carbon-14 radioactive gas throughout June and July that year.

· In August, 2003, during a severe heat wave in France, Electricite de France (EDF) 2 was permitted to discharge cooling water at such high temperatures that it kills aquatic life by cooking it.

· The high level of French standardization in reactor design increases significantly the risk of costly and potentially dangerous generic faults. A recently discovered steam generator plugging issue is only one of the latest in a series of generic safety related problems.

· Tons of radioactive waste has accumulated in the area called La Hague on France’s west coast. The earliest [that] France’s government projects they will open a permanent nuclear waste repository is 2015. [We have substantial reason to doubt the reliability of this timeline projection because, after decades of trying, neither the U.S, France, nor any other nation in the world, has developed a single permanent disposal site.]

· France discharges 100 million gallons of radioactive waste per year into the English Channel. [!!] This waste has spread all the way from there to the Arctic. Twelve of fifteen western European countries have asked France to stop discharging this radioactivity into the sea and France refuses to comply.

· France has long been extracting plutonium from spent nuclear power plant fuel rods using the so-called “reprocessing” technology. France’s reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel does NOT “recycle” the spent fuel because only about 1% of the spent fuel becomes new fuel for reactors. The other 99% remains radioactive waste that must be kept in extremely secure storage to protect the public from being harmed. (Go to http://www.ieer.org/ for further technical info about French rad waste.)

· Reprocessing extracts plutonium & uranium from spent fuel. Plutonium is the fuel in atomic and hydrogen bombs. Only one-millionth of a gram of plutonium can cause cancer. Reprocessing operations release dangerous levels of radioactivity into the surrounding environment, contaminating workers at the plants. Reprocessing creates millions of gallons of intensely corrosive acidic radioactive liquid waste.

· A significant number of France’s population have been protesting against elements of their nation’s nuclear power industry since 1987. Access to information on nuclear issues has been restricted in France. A 2007 study revealed that 59% of French citizens were in favor of a reduction of nuclear in their national energy sources. In a 2008 poll, 82% of French citizens “totally agree” or “tended to agree” with the statement “THERE IS NO SAFE WAY OF GETTING RID OF HIGH LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.”

1. AREVA, a world-leading nuclear power development corporation, is more than 90% owned by the French State. AREVA has a record of mismanagement and its financial security is plummeting.
2. EDF is the largest nuclear developer in the world. It is a French-state controlled conglomerate. EDF is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France.

TVA and the Environment

Hazardous Waste Spill from the Widows Creek Fossil Fuels plant waste pond spilling into the Tennessee River near Stevenson Al.

Massive hazardous Waste Spill due to a waste holding pond dam collapse, Kingston Fossil Fuels Plant, Harriman, Tn.

Members of the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, BEST, a local Chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, BREDL, at Bellefonte Landing.

TVA Board, the Quarterly Board meeting will be in Bristol, Va. in February 2009.

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January 25, 2009
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Open Letter to TVA Board
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The word is out that the TVA Board may consider taking away the funding for TVA's energy efficiency programs to pay for the Kingston Coal Ash Disaster.
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TVA's proclaimed mission for decades has been cheap power to energize Valley development.

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TVA's rule of thumb that environmental protection is unaffordable has consequences:
• TVA encouraged Tennesseans to build all-electric buildings - both residential and commercial - without regard to energy efficiency. Tennessee is second only to Alabama in the amount of electricity used per person.
• TVA consistently resisted environmental regulations and delayed compliance with them through the courts. Without the benefit of regulatory oversight, TVA's decision not to fix the Kingston dredge cell is just an example of its cutting environmental protection corners.
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Tennesseans want TVA to be environmentally responsible and a dynamo of energy efficiency. Including the costs of environmental protection, energy efficiency, and renewable energy into the cost of producing power will increase our rates but our bills will be lower because we will consume less. Unleashing the power of energy efficiency will allow TVA to reduce its production of coal ash.
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TVA must keep its energy efficiency and demand response programs on track to help every ratepayer. TVA needs to heal the environmental damage it has inflicted on the Valley. For an agency in search of a mission, certainly these two - energy efficiency and environmental protection - should keep TVA occupied through the rest of this century.
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Louise Gorenflo
BEST Member
Solar Valley Coalition
Cookeville, TN

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Absolutely Louise, thank you.

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More on the TVA from the "Tennessean" on the Toxic Waste Destruction at Kingston. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090119/GREEN02/901190358

Dr. Arjun Makhijani to Visit Scottsboro

"A technological revolution has been brewing in the last few years, so it won't cost an arm and a leg to eliminate both CO2 emissions and nuclear power. We can solve the problems of oil imports, nuclear proliferation as it is linked to nuclearpower, and carbon dioxide emissions simultaneously if we are bold enough."--Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D.
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Dr. Arjun Makhijani, http://www.ieer.org/ , will visit Scottsboro and make a presentation on the Courthouse Square in Scottsboro on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 2PM by the bandstand. The following Press release was issued by the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team a local Chapter of the Blue Ridge Enviromental Defense League, http://www.bredl.org/nuclear/index.htm

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PRESS ADVISORY
SEPTEMBER 19, 2008

EXPERT ADVISES NON-NUCLEAR ENERGY MIX
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The Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team (BEST), a local Chapter of the
Blue Ridge Enviromental Defense League, invites all to appear on the north side of
the Courthouse Square by the Bandstand in Scottsboro, Alabama at 2PM on September the
24, 2008. There, Dr. Arjun Makhijani, a recognized authority on energy issues, will share his
knowledge regarding nuclear energy and our energy future. He is president of the Institute
for Energy and Environmental Research in Tacoma Park, Maryland.
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"A technological revolution has been brewing in the last few years, so
it won't cost an arm and a leg to eliminate both CO2 emissions and nuclear power. We can
solve the problems of oil imports, nuclear proliferation as it is linked to nuclear power, and
carbon dioxide emissions simultaneously if we are bold enough," states Dr. Makhijani.
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“Those in attendance will learn about an alternative clean energy plan that will allow
our children and grandchildren a healthier and less risky future while ending our dependence
on foreign oil,” said BEST member Garry Morgan.
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Dr. Makhijani is the author and co-author of numerous reports and books on energy and environment related issues. He was the principal author of the first study of the energy
efficiency potential of the US economy published in 1971. He is the author of Carbon-Free
and Nuclear-Free: A Road map for U.S. Energy Policy (2007). He earned his Ph.D. from the
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California,
Berkeley in 1972, specializing in nuclear fusion.
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Winner of numerous awards, Dr. Makhijani has testified before Congress, and has
appeared on ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, CBS 60 Minutes, NPR,
CNN, and BBC, among others. He has served as a consultant on energy issues to utilities,
including the Tennessee Valley Authority.
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In case of rain, the session will be held at the Scottsboro Rec-Com, 701 South Broad
St., Rm 103, Scottsboro.

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For those who are interested in joining BREDL, http://www.bredl.org/membership.htm or joining with other citizens of the area surrounding Bellefonte who are concerned about the negative environmental and economic impact a nuclear facility may have on our area may contact Garry Morgan at email: arklite2go@yahoo.com If you prefer you may list a message within, I will not post email addresses.

More on the No Nuclear TVA Movement

"The TVA should be setting leadership examples instead of poisoning the enviroment." Comments by Mr. David Freeman. Link to the issue from the Chattanooga Times Free Press: http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jun/13/chattanooga-ex-tva-head-blasts-plans-nuke-plants/

Link to the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League: http://www.bredl.org/

GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST TVA NUCLEAR PLANT IN ALABAMA

Today citizens groups announced their legal challenge to stop the proposed Bellefonte nuclear power plant. The groups filed a lawsuit which lists 19 major arguments against nuclear power at a proposed Tennessee Valley Authority site near Scottsboro, Alabama. The 176-page petition to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission was filed by the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. http://www.bredl.org/pdf2/080606BellefonteCOL_FINAL.pdf

BELLEFONTE EFFICIENCY & SUSTAINABILITY TEAM

The Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, BEST, a local chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, cordially invites all citizens to an informational session and membership drive on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 6PM at the Scottsboro Rec Com, 701 South Houston Street, Room 103. If you, your family or friends are concerned about a Nuclear Power Plant being built in Jackson County at the the Bellefonte Site please attend this meeting. Informational handouts on nuclear energy concerns will be available. There will be a moderated question and answer session after the informational presentation. The session will last approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (photo by Tom Moss, BEST)

Bellefonte Nuclear Opponents Speak Out At Hearing

http://www.bredl.org/pdf2/BEST-PressRelease-NRCScoping040308.pdf



DID YOU KNOW?
The cost of Bellefonte units 3 and 4 built today would cost at least$20 billion nearly doubling TVA’s debt of $25 billion. The two reactors will draw 71 million gallons of water per day from the Guntersville Reservoir. That is more than all the public water systems in the Guntersville watershed combined. Bellefonte plant is near the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, considered
one of the most active seismic areas east of the Rocky Mountains. A Texas study found increased cancer rates in north central Texas since the Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant went online in 1992. There are 4 units now within 50 miles of Huntsville and 2 within 50 miles of
Chattanooga.


Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League: http://www.bredl.org/ (Photos by Tom Moss) Last photo members of the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, BEST.

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) link on Nuclear Power Safety. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/nuclear_safety/