Dive Brief:
- Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and other officials from the state are pressing the Tennessee Valley Authority to sell the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, which was begun in 1974 and construction stopped in 1988, the Associated Press reports.
- TVA in February opened a comment period to consider selling the plant. Though no price tag is set, the federal utility has spent $4 billion on the plant.
- TVA said last year it was halting all development of the plant, but it could still be used in a variety of residential, commercial or industrial applications.
Dive Insight:
The AP reports Alabama officials are pressuring TVA to sell the Bellafonte nuclear facility and put behind it a 40 year-old project that may never be completed. According to the news site, comments released by TVA show the state's governor, Republican senator and a variety of other officials are in favor of the plant's sale.
According to ABC, Bentley and Shelby both favor selling the plant to a private party who will complete the nuclear plant. While there are many possibilities for the facility, at least one potential buyer wants to install a renewable energy facility at the site.
Phoenix Energy, based in Nevada, says it has found a non-nuclear use for the plant, using "electromagnetic induction energy fields" to generate steam.
"We are a completely clean, regenerative source of non-intermittent reliable and dependable, low-cost electric power," Michael Dooley, managing partner and principle engineer for Phoenix Energy, told Associated Press.
The Bellefonte Nuclear project was begun the 1970s but mothballed in the late 80s, when power consumption began to decline. TVA faces an energy shortage through 2033, but the utility has said it will focus on gas generation and demand management, rather than continue to pursue construction of Bellefonte.
