Updated: 11/5/2009 9:56:46 AM
In the next few years, TVA is set to complete the country's first new nuclear power reactor in more than a decade.
Watts Bar II in Meigs County will be the company's seventh reactor and a major piece of their power grid.
However, some scientists worry about the potential for a serious accident, particularly in light of TVA's billion-gallon ash spill in Roane County nearly a year ago.
The debate over nuclear energy begins in part with what to do about climate change.
"If you really want to make a dent in greenhouse effects and global warming, nuclear has to be part of the mix," said TVA Senior Vice President of Nuclear Generation Development & Construction Ashok Bhatnagar.
Watts Bar II is scheduled to power up in 2012 as part of the company's strategic plan.
"We've decided by 2020 that half of our electricity will come from energy that is clean," Bhatnagar said.
For TVA, clean energy points straight to nuclear.
Right now, about 30% of electricity in the Valley is provided by nuclear power, but TVA is looking to do more.
"It's a good baseload generation. By baseload, I mean it runs almost 24/7," Bhatnagar said.
Nuclear energy's consistent power source is not the only quality to which TVA points when explaining its use.
Because the fuel is only purchased every couple of years, its price doesn't fluctuate as much as other fuels.
In addition, nuclear plants only require refueling every 2 years.
Plus, just one nuclear fuel pellet, the size of a AAA battery, produces the same amount of energy as 149 gallons of oil, 1 ton of coal, and 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
"So the refueling is very infrequent, the volume of the fuel is much less, and the cost of that fuel is much much less," Bhatnagar said.
Senator Lamar Alexander is one of the high-profile supporters of nuclear power in Tennessee.
Earlier this year he told participants at the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit that the United States should build 100 new nuclear power plants during the next 20 years.
However, not everyone agrees with TVA's push for nuclear power, or the claim they can handle the fuel's risks.
"Our concern is that TVA seems to be concerned with other projects, which we think could detract from focusing on the safety of their operating reactors," said Dr. Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Lyman is referring to projects pertaining to nuclear power, as well as other fuels, like the coal ash spill clean-up, that some argue reflect the company's shortcomings in energy production and its waste.
"There is an over-arching principle here. If you don't manage dangerous technologies and the waste they produce with the most care, then you are opening the door to a potential disaster," Lyman said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says its on-site inspectors, present every day, work diligently to prevent that.
"They have a good record of responding to our regulatory actions and keeping the plants running in a safe manner," said NRC Public Affairs Director Joey Ledford. "You can be assured that we are on the scene, making sure that TVA runs the plants in a way that protects that people."
The Union of Concerned Scientists is unconvinced by NRC assurances.
"They're underfunded with regard to inspection. There's still too cozy an attitude between the NRC and the industry," Lyman said.
Lyman says that combination could lead to a disaster that would change life around the plant, and in East Tennessee, forever.
"A release of radioactive material to the environment, leading to the potential for hundreds or thousands of deaths from radiation poisoning and potentially tens or hundreds of thousands of cancer deaths over the long term," Lyman said. "A disaster anywhere, with regard to nuclear power, could end the option everywhere."
TVA argues that an accident of that scale would not occur.
"There have been some lessons learned that we've implemented, but we continue to improve the regulatory process and the process of how we operate the plant. It's probably one of the most regulated businesses in the country, and they do a very good job," Bhatnagar said.
