Alabama to finish building scuttled 1970's era nuclear reactor

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/aug/20/tva-revive-mothballed-bellefonte/?local

Friday, Aug. 20, 2010

TVA to revive mothballed Bellefonte

The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to revive one of its unfinished nuclear reactors from the 1970s before pursuing the next generation of nuclear power. snip

If approved by the TVA board and federal regulators, the mothballed unit could be completed and generate power by 2018 — 44 years after work first began at the 1,600-acre site on the Tennessee River. snip

Old over the new

TVA has spent the past two years studying whether to finish the old reactors or build new ones at Bellefonte. Ashok Bhatnagar, TVA’s senior vice president of nuclear operations, said finishing the original Babcock & Wilcox reactor started in 1974 will be cheaper and faster to complete than constructing the new Westinghouse AP-1000 reactor also proposed for the site.

Bellefonte was targeted by the nuclear industry four years ago as the first test site for the AP-1000, which is advertised as simpler and safer than older reactors.

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What could possibly go wrong?

[mike r]

1. Nuclear reactors age like wine

The older the creakier the better