TVA plant's old design brings fresh worries Using 1960s-era plans to finish reactor is risky, critics warn

TVA plant's old design brings fresh worries

Using 1960s-era plans to finish reactor is risky, critics warn

The TVA has defended the safety of its planned completion of the Bellefonte nuclear plant against critics who said the decades-old design was inadequate to ensure safety and reliability, the Nashville Tennessean reported. TVA spokesman Terry Johnson said the partially completed first unit will have reinstalled parts and digital controls and "virtually all the equipment involved in the safety of the reactor will be inspected."

Work on the two units began in the 1970s and was completely suspended in 1988 with the first unit 90 percent complete. That unit is estimated to be about 55 percent complete under a renovation program. TVA said it was planning for the possibility of completing the second unit and sharing facilities between the units. The Babcock & Wilcox design of the units would be unique among all operating plants in the world.

Fairewinds Associates chief engineer Arnold Gundersen called the design "first-generation nuclear technology," and said that in his time at New York State Electric and Gas, it was rejected because its steam generator and other design elements were "not conservative enough." In response to the safety concerns, Johnson was quoted as saying: "The newer reactors are going to be a bit safer overall when you look at the package, but that's not to say that any of the reactors are unsafe."