Reliance Financial Of Alabama

Building reactor at TVA Bellefonte plant on agenda

The Tennessee Valley Authority has a message for opponents of it finishing a long-shuttered, 37-year-old nuclear plant in northeast Alabama: No costumes.

A month after zombie-costumed protesters paraded in Chattanooga to oppose TVA reviving what they described as a "corpse of a power plant," the nation's largest public utility has posted a new ban on costumes at its board meeting Thursday.

A TVA spokesman said the no-costume rule is intended to avoid any "disruption" at the meeting in Knoxville when the board acts on a recommendation to finish construction of a reactor at the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant where work was stopped and the site became a pricey scrap yard.

An opponent of TVA's plan to restart the nuclear plant construction that was stopped in the 1980s said she and others want to see the project at least delayed. Sandy Kurtz and other members of the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team group say promoting conservation and renewable energy sources are better alternatives.

"We don't know where zombies will turn up," Kurtz said of the new costume rule.

TVA executives are asking the board to approve building a projected $4 billion to $5 billion reactor, contending it will help keep rates low as TVA moves ahead with phasing out coal-fired power plants to reduce pollutants. That construction cost, on top of more than $4 billion already spent at the Bellefonte site on the Tennessee River, could be an obstacle. TVA, which is financially self-supporting, has a total debt of about $24 billion and a $30 billion debt ceiling. Changing the debt ceiling requires congressional approval. Otherwise, increased rates could be an option.

Project opponents also contend there are unanswered safety concerns about Bellefonte. They question the durability of the old structure, whether there is possible foundation damage from water intrusion and if there are possible weaknesses in the containment structure similar to those discovered at a nuclear plant in Florida. TVA executives say inspections have found no safety problems at the site. TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore has said the staff is recommending that the board approve building a 1,260-megawatt, Babcock and Wilcox-designed reactor that is designed to power about 750,000 homes.

Yuma News Now - Creating Jobs And Reducing Reliance On ...

Washington, DC (NAPSI) - If the country had a way to reduce reliance on foreign oil and create well-paid production jobs that could not be exported, it might seem like a natural commodity to invest in. Congress decided just three years ago that it made economic sense to help Americans grow and refine biofuels—high-energy liquids that are derived from agricultural crops or forestry waste.

This renewable source of energy is expected to create jobs and help meet the nation’s energy needs in a sustainable way.

Meeting the goals established by Congress for producing biofuels requires new crops that add to the corn and soybeans currently being used. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has identified a number of potential sources, including:

• Native prairie grasses, such as switchgrass, big bluestem, Illinois bundleflower and purple prairie clover

• Hybrids, such as perennial Miscanthus giganteus (giant Miscanthus)

• Oil seeds, such as camelina

• Woody biomass, such as fast-growing hybrid poplar trees.

Other potential biomass crops include algae, jatropha (an oil seed), and energy cane (a form of sugarcane).

The USDA, at the end of last year, finalized rules and began implementing the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) and the Biorefinery Assistance Program (BAP), to help farmers and bioenergy producers grow and refine such sources of energy, but the House of Representatives recently proposed cutting the money for these programs from the 2012 budget.

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which gives financial assistance to farmers planting new bioenergy crops, is expected to create an estimated $88.5 billion in economic activity and 700,000 jobs by 2023.

BCAP project areas have been established in 10 states—Arkansas, California, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Of mice and men

Three cups of tea, one man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations-- one school at a time

Art of War

The elements of style

The origin of species by means of natural selection, or, The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life