NRC Public Meeting at Athens, Tennessee, March 26, 2015 on TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Power Reactor Unit 2

TVA Watts Bar (photo by TVA, fair use rights for non-profit news reporting)

 Info on Watts Bar Unit 2

This writer and others, including scientists, engineers and health care professionals believe that TVA's claims that nuclear power is clean, safe and reliable is not true. It is important to point out that Watts Bar is not the 21st Century's first "new" reactor. It is TVA in the 21st century's completing an old mid 20th century's nuclear project with a 300% plus cost over-run, continuing to place the TVA in a precarious financial situation. Total cost of the Watts Bar Unit 2 - 40 year plus construction will be over $7 billion, $7,000,000,000.00. Including the interest on this amount will bring the total costs near $13 billion dollars.

TVA LINK to  INFO & SPURIOUS CLAIMS on WATTS BAR UNIT 2

http://www.tva.gov/power/nuclear/wattsbar_unit2.htm

Athens, Tennessee March 26, 2015 - NRC Public Meeting on the Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear reactor at the McMinn County High School in Athens, 22 miles from Watts Bar, located in Rhea Co. Tn, TVA and NRC makes their presentation with public input. Our environmental groups participated in a one and a half hour discussion on items of  concern with the NRC prior to the public meeting.

TVA's and NRC's summary is presented with BEST/MATRR's expressed concerns about cancer as a community health issue and how radioactive emissions effect community health.  

CART BEFORE HORSE RELIABILITY FAILURE - ACRS ( Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards) RECOMMENDS ISSUING OF LICENSE WITH INCOMPLETE INSPECTIONS AND THOROUGH SAFETY REVIEW, NO CONSIDERATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS. THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO RUN A REGULATOR AND INDICATES A SERIOUS DEFECT IN THE APPROVAL PROCESS -  A HUMAN RELIABILITY FAILURE. 

There are concerns and positive points to be made - TVA and the NRC at this point refuses to consider community health relating to high cancer incidence rates in Rhea County Tennessee. For more info on hazards of ionizing radiation go to http://radioactivepoison.blogspot.com/ It is also apparent that the NRC is not paying attention to the lessons of Fukushima and reactor aging issues regarding Watts Bar. Unit 2, now 42 years of age, even with updated systems. These issues were brought forward in a private meeting with the NRC prior to the public meeting. Information on Cancer Incidence Rates is taken from the National Cancer Institute's, part of the CDC, state cancer maps and tables.  Health concerns video - https://youtu.be/V8rtl2SFsNQ

Dave Lochbaum,Director of Nuclear Safety, Union of Concerned Scientists comments in "All Things Nuclear - What I saw during the plant tour was impressive. But what I’ve seen during the CAP meetings has been far more impressive. TVA has been exceedingly forthcoming. CAP members can propose items to be discussed during the next meeting and can (and do) ask questions during the meetings."  http://allthingsnuclear.org/watts-bar-community-action-panel/  Mr. Lochbaum expressed concerns to the NRC regarding the aging of structures on the 40 year plus Watts Bar Unit 2  nuclear reactor.  https://youtu.be/VJlFRpA2wOY

All video links to this series as shown below: 

1) Dave Lochbaum - https://youtu.be/VJlFRpA2wOY

2)  Don Safer- https://youtu.be/YGSkeEAMEOI

3) Sandy Kurtz and, Sara Barzack - https://youtu.be/0R8Jk-VWFOA

4) Garry Morgan - https://youtu.be/V8rtl2SFsNQ

5) TVA - NRC Summary - https://youtu.be/fJ1CQnzs5QY

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

TVA's and NRC's summary with BEST/MATRR's expressed concerns

Dave Lochbaum, Director of Nuclear Safety, Union of Concerned Scientists


Don Safer, Tennessee Environmental Council, BEST/MATRR, discusses nuclear waste and nuclear system resilience. 

Presentation of  Sandy Kurtz, BREDL/BEST/MATRR, and Sara Barzack, SACE - phone webinar participant, discussion on earthquakes and nuclear system resilience.


 Presentation by Garry Morgan Director of the BEST/MATRR Public Health and Radiation Monitoring Program.


SACE Blog articles on the issue of licensing TVA's Watts Bar Unit 2 Nuclear Reactor
TVA’s Watts Bar — the last old reactor of the 20th Century  and  What have we learned in the four years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan?

TVA WOES, WATTS BAR UNIT 2 PROBLEMS EQUAL PROBLEMS FOR BELLEFONTE

WATTS BAR UNIT 2 - Chattanooga Times Free Press article revealing. http://timesfreepress.com/news/2012/feb/04/delays-cost-overruns-hit-watts-bar-work/

"Despite the cost overruns, Kilgore said finishing Watts Bar Unit 2 still makes good economic sense. Watts Bar is still expected to be far cheaper than the $4.9 billion expense of finishing one of the reactors at Bellefonte, which TVA determined last year was still the best way to meet future power demand."

"We could spend up to $4.58 billion and still have an economical plant," Kilgore said of the Watts Bar Project. "I don't think the estimate is going to be anywhere near that, but we know this is going to be a good plant and that is why we continue to work on it."
 

  It appears the money raised in the sale of John Sevier Combined Cycle Gas plant and the pending Watts Bar 2 sale will not be utilized for Bellefonte but for the completion of Watts Bar 2. The two $30,000,000,000 questions: Can the TVA afford Bellefonte after Watts Bar's unit 2 construction? Will TVA Executives and the Board be honest with citizens about TVA's financial difficulties or continue with deceit?

Now the question: Can the TVA afford Bellefonte and Watts Bar without selling more assets and placing the TVA into an unrecoverable financial failure spin. Will the TVA Executives advise the Board to cancel the Bellefonte Project or extend the start date to 2016? Or will the TVA continue to treat the ratepayers as an ever-bearing "money tree?"

More revelations: In the article from the Times Free Press Saturday, "the [Watts Bar] project is probably only 70 percent complete." (TVA CEO Tom Kilgore)

Watts Bar Unit 2 public misinformation/information: Just how far along is Watts Bar 2? a) "Power News" via a TVA news release: "August 10, 2011-The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Monday said it would delay construction at Watts Bar Unit 2 and delay commercial operation of the facility from the previously anticipated late 2012 time frame into 2013...Work to complete the 1,180 MW generating unit resumed in 2007; the unit is currently about 86% complete." http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/TVA-to-Delay-Watts-Bar-2-Startup-until-2013_3932.html b) Bechtel Corporation: "Unit 2 at Watts Bar in Spring City, Tennessee, was about two-thirds (66%) complete in 1988" http://www.bechtel.com/watts-bar-completion.html c) From Wikipedia: "TVA is currently working to finish the partially completed Unit 2. Unit 2 was about 80% complete when its construction was stopped in 1988. d) Rhea County Herald News: "Watts Bar Nuclear Unit 2 is on schedule to be completed by October 2012, according to a Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman...We're still on schedule to get it complete on time," TVA spokesman Terry Johnson said. "And we're still on budget too."" (Current information has shown this TVA report to be inaccurate information. ) http://rheaheraldnews.com/story/17178 e) Chattanooga Times Free Press article Feb. 4, 2012: "TVA has already spent more than $2.2 billion on finishing the new Watts Bar reactor since work was restarted there four years ago, and Kilgore said the project is probably only 70 percent complete." http://timesfreepress.com/news/2012/feb/04/delays-cost-overruns-hit-watts-bar-work/

Utilizing the figures in the article links provided we may conclude that the plant construction has gone in reverse according to TVA sources, contractors and news reports. (There was a construction rate loss of 16% due to inaccurate TVA information between Aug 2011 and this weekend.) In 4 years, if we utilize Bechtel and TVA's Chief Executive Officer's figures, the plant has progressed at a total construction rate of 4% or 1% per year. It is obvious there have been information inaccuracies and serious management problems within the TVA regarding the Watts Bar nuclear construction project over the past 4 years. At 1% rate of construction per year the plant will take 25-30 years to complete. (Relying on the TVA CEO's information of "probably only 70% complete.")

Once management problems are worked out, a real construction time would be 3-4 years for completion of 25-30% of the plant - construction completion in 2015-2016; financially, an additional 3.5 billion dollars in construction costs due to inflation and cost overruns would be a more realistic cost estimate.

The Sunshines on Nuclear Issues-BREDL, BEST/MATRR Press Conference at TVA-Chattanooga, Tn.

The Bellefonte Efficiency & Sustainability Team/Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation (BEST/MATRR), Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL)  Press Conference in Chattanooga, Tn.

BREDL TVA July 20, 2011 from Chris Braly on Vimeo.

Letter to TVA Board & CEO Tom Kilgore, click on image for an expanded view.

Press Coverage of Nuclear Issues in our nation and our valley.

Times Free Press Editorial http://timesfreepress.com/news​/2011/jul/17/fresh-start-belle​fonte/#c97217
News Channel 12 coverage of press conference
http://wdef.com/news/zombies_protest_tva_possibly_restarting_bellefonte_nuclear_reactor_construction/07/2011
Times Free Press Coverage of the event http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/jul/21/plants-vs-zombies/
WRCB TV Zombie Swarm http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/15​115863/zombies-swarm-tva-prote​st-nuclear
NEWS Channel 9 coverage of the Chattanooga event http://www.newschannel9.com/ar​ticles/tva-1003169-downtown-re​porting.html
MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43​834875/ns/local_news-chattanoo​ga_tn/



AP Wire Report:
 http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/a00565aa57b84e47a6891ec2cc966055/TN--Nuke-Protesters/ 

Report from the "Zombie Post" http://zombiepost.com/brains/?​p=657

SACE blog AP expose of nuclear industry & NRC http://ht.ly/1dx49w

NYT Zombie article, Lou Zeller Comments: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06​/16/business/energy-environmen​t/16nuclear.html?_r=1

arklite.blogspot articles on the nuclear power issue http://arklite.blogspot.com/se​arch/label/Nuclear%20Power

A Nuclear Engineers Story, the Story of Mansour Guity, 'Der Spiegel International - Safety Concerns Cloud US Nuclear Renaissance:'  http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,775209,00.html

Tennessean Article Safety Questions - Safety - whistle-blower harassment http://www.tennessean.com/arti​cle/20110719/BUSINESS/30719003​7/Critics-question-TVA-nuke-sa​fety-results?odyssey=mod%7Cnew​swell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

CBS expose Whistle blower, part 1- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories​/2011/07/19/earlyshow/main2008​0633.shtml
CBS expose Whistle blower, part 2- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories​/2011/07/20/earlyshow/main2008​0965.shtml

AP Impact Stories on Nuclear Power
Population- http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impac​t-populations-around-us-nuke-p​lants-soar-073429497.html
NRC rewrites plant safety history and findings http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap​/20110628/ap_on_re_us/us_aging​_nukes_part4
NRC weakens safety rules http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap​/20110620/ap_on_re_us/us_aging​_nukes_part1
Tritium leaks http://my.news.yahoo.com/ap-im​pact-tritium-leaks-found-many-​nuke-sites-070155807.html