WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that it will cooperate with an industry team led by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to conduct a detailed study of the potential construction of a two-unit Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) nuclear plant on Bellefonte site near Hollywood, Ala. This study, which will cost a total of $4.25 million over the next 10 months, will help TVA decide whether to build a new, advanced technology nuclear plant at the site by the middle of the next decade which could produce more than 2600 megawatts of electric energy. DOE will fund half of the cost associated with the study.

“We see this study as an important step in industry’s consideration of building new nuclear power plants in this country,” Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham stated. “Nuclear power is the only large-scale source of domestically produced electricity that does not produce greenhouse gases. It is, therefore, one of our most important energy sources today and has tremendous potential to support the Nation’s energy and environmental goals in the future.”

“As a leader in the use and deployment of nuclear power, TVA’s decision to lead a team to conduct this study is a positive signal regarding the future of nuclear energy,” Kyle McSlarrow, Deputy Secretary of Energy during a visit to the Bellefonte site said.

Deputy Secretary McSlarrow also visited TVA’s Browns Ferry plant during his visit to Alabama, which is the site of a major project to prepare the facility’s Unit 1 reactor to begin operations by 2007. When started, the 1200 megawatt Browns Ferry Unit 1 plant will be the first new nuclear plant to come on line in the United States in this century. He was joined by Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions in making this announcement. Senator Sessions, one of the Senate’s strongest supporters of nuclear power, has been a steadfast proponent of building a new nuclear plant at the Bellefonte site.

The Bellefonte project will detail the cost and schedule for building a two-unit Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) plant. This technology is a Generation III nuclear power plant that is based on a design developed by General Electric and was certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1997. While no plant using this technology has been built in the United States, three ABWR plants are successfully operating in Japan and three additional units are under construction in Japan and Taiwan.

The specific design that will be evaluated for the Bellefonte site will reflect modifications made by the Japanese firm, Toshiba, reflecting that company’s successful experience with the technology in Japan.

TVA will lead a project team that includes General Electric, Toshiba, Bechtel, Global Nuclear Fuels-America, and the Nation’s only uranium enrichment supplier, USEC Inc. Following completion of the study in April 2005, TVA will make a decision whether to file a combined Construction and Operating License (COL) application with the NRC and consider subsequent steps for building a new nuclear plant. The department will provide approximately $2.1 million in matching funds to conduct the cost and schedule study.

The project, to be conducted under the department's Nuclear Power 2010 program, was proposed by TVA in response to a program financial assistance solicitation issued on Nov. 20, 2003. The Nuclear Power 2010 program is an important component of the department’s strategy to implement the National Energy Policy recommendation to expand the role of nuclear energy in the United States as a major component of our Nation’s energy policy. The program seeks to achieve an industry decision in 2005 to proceed with a COL application for at least one new nuclear power plant that can begin commercial operation early in the next decade.

Neither TVA nor the other two consortia have made a decision to place an order for a new nuclear plant at this time, but each proposed project will help address the complex issues that must be resolved before a new plant is ordered.

Media contact: Hope Williams, 202/586-5806

- DOE -