US nuclear plant up for sale at fraction of cost

[webfact]

US nuclear plant up for sale at fraction of cost

By JAY REEVES

 

HOLLYWOOD, Ala. (AP) — After spending more than 40 years and $5 billion on an unfinished nuclear power plant in northeastern Alabama, the nation's largest federal utility is preparing to sell the property at a fraction of its cost.

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and the 1,600 surrounding acres of waterfront property on the Tennessee River. The buyer gets two unfinished nuclear reactors, transmission lines, office and warehouse buildings, eight miles of roads, a 1,000-space parking lot and more.

 

Initial bids are due Monday, and at least one company has publicly expressed interest in the site with plans to use it for alternative energy production. But TVA says it isn't particular about what the purchaser does — using the site for power production, industrial manufacturing, recreation or even residences would all be fine with the agency, said spokesman Scott Fiedler.

 

"It's all about jobs and investment, and that's our primary goal for selling this property," said Fielder. TVA hopes to close the deal in October.

 

The sale is bittersweet for site manager Jim Chardos, who went to work at Bellefonte in 1994 expecting it to be finished as a nuclear power plant. All these years later, he commutes 90 minutes each way to work to oversee a plant that has never been stocked with radioactive fuel or used either of its reactors to generate a single watt of electricity.

 

Work began at Bellefonte in the mid-'70s on the backside of the nuclear energy boom in the United States, Chardos said. The utility initially planned to construct four reactors at the site, but demand for power in the region never met those early expectations and work halted in 1988. A series of starts and stops preceded TVA's decision earlier this year to sell Bellefonte.

 

"If you're going to make 1,200 megawatts you need to sell it to somebody, and if there's no need for it you're not going to finish," he said. "And that's really what's happened."

 

Sales of U.S. nuclear plants aren't all that unusual; the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group, says at least 30 units have been sold in part or whole since 1999. The potential sale of Bellefonte is creating hope in a region where residents gave up long ago on the promise of thousands of good-paying, permanent jobs that were once expected at the plant.

 

"It was a great thing but then they just pulled the plug and left out, you know," said Hollywood Mayor Frank "Buster" Duke, who worked at Bellefonte about a decade before moving on.

 

Today, he said, the 1,000 or so residents of his town need a place to work whether TVA or some other entity owns the property.

 

"It would help the area as far as land values go. Population would improve, businesses would come in," he said.

 

The Nevada-based Phoenix Energy has said it will offer $38 million for Bellefonte in hopes of using it for a new, non-nuclear technology to generate power. The company says its system uses electromagnetic induction energy fields to heat water indirectly and produce steam that would turn turbines and generate electricity at Bellefonte.

 

Chardos said he would still like to see the site used to generate electricity by nuclear power, but he can't be too picky.

"It's all about the jobs," he said.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-09-12

[MajarTheLion]

Your tax dollars at work: $36.4 million minimum bid for $5 billion facility. Who wouldn't want to empower such financial geniuses with even more tax money?

[Emster23]

Has Iran put a bid in yet?

[d123]

I think that works out approx 300,000 baht per rai all in. Down Phuket way (Patong) there's people looking for over 100 mill baht/rai for underdeveloped land.

 

Appologies if the conversions are incorrect but being TV someone will be happy to provide any correction needed.

[boomerangutang]

Turn it into a performance center.  Also; part of it devoted to assisting innovators develop vanguard alternative energy ideas.   ....and a crafts center.  

When Wash. D.C's largest amusement park went under (Glen Echo, MD), due to rioting after MLK's assassination,  the facilities were turned into a sprawling crafts and performance center - a great place for community residents to interact and develop new friendships/projects, etc. 

[IAMHERE]

Return the land to the owners that were 'Eminently Domainned' out of their property. When the government confiscates land for some worthy purpose and then doesn't fulfill that responsibility then the land should return to the rightful owners.

[elgordo38]

You could build condo's inside the silo's call it Silo City. 

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, IAMHERE said:

then the land should return to the rightful owners.

Even when the government pays the landowners fair market value for their property? Eminent Domain forces sale of the property but does not exempt its sale at anything less than FMV. To return the properties free would be a waste to the US taxpayers who ultimately paid for its purchase for the planned TVA power plants. 

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

Turn it into a performance center.

The location is nothing like Washington D.C.

 

[halloween]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Even when the government pays the landowners fair market value for their property? Eminent Domain forces sale of the property but does not exempt its sale at anything less than FMV. To return the properties free would be a waste to the US taxpayers who ultimately paid for its purchase for the planned TVA power plants. 

Weren't you saying in another thread that resumed land should be returned AUTOMATICALLY to its previous owners without them having to apply?

[LawrenceChee]

Wanda Group is thinking of buying that for an amusement centre


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, halloween said:

Weren't you saying in another thread that resumed land should be returned AUTOMATICALLY to its previous owners without them having to apply?

My comment was qualified to land not purchased but to land obtained for temporary easement rights for such use as in construction access, temporary facilities, storage, etc. The landowner is paid for such nondestructive (if destructive may be returned to original condition at government cost) and exclusive access, usually for the duration of the project. Whether the project is completed or terminated earlier, the landowner should automatically take receipt of the property. My distinction was presumptious as the article was not very detailed but there was language that property was to be returned earlier than expected to landowners who applied for such return which suggested property was not purchased for permanent use. Basically, the government leased certain properties for temporary use, paid for such use, and now desires to return it. Why shouldn't such return be automatically?

 

In the Bellefonte project the 1,600 acres of land under discussion was purchased. About 85% of the land was forests, crops, and pastures. As such TVA can dispose of it whenever and however it decides. It decided to auction the unimproved and improved property to the highest bidder.

 

So no inconsistency in either of my remarks.

 

[TPI]

7 hours ago, d123 said:

I think that works out approx 300,000 baht per rai all in. Down Phuket way (Patong) there's people looking for over 100 mill baht/rai for underdeveloped land.

 

Appologies if the conversions are incorrect but being TV someone will be happy to provide any correction needed.

Gee, that's a good price, some of the land around here goes for 50,000 Baht a rai! 

[thaihome]

13 hours ago, MajarTheLion said:

Your tax dollars at work: $36.4 million minimum bid for $5 billion facility. Who wouldn't want to empower such financial geniuses with even more tax money?

 

You will find, if you bothered to look, that the TVA  is a wholly owned government corporation that receives no federal funding. 

http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/businesses-corporations/tennessee-valley-authority-tva-2147

TH 

[thaihome]

4 hours ago, Srikcir said:

My comment was qualified to land not purchased but to land obtained for temporary easement rights for such use as in construction access, temporary facilities, storage, etc. The landowner is paid for such nondestructive (if destructive may be returned to original condition at government cost) and exclusive access, usually for the duration of the project. Whether the project is completed or terminated earlier, the landowner should automatically take receipt of the property. My distinction was presumptious as the article was not very detailed but there was language that property was to be returned earlier than expected to landowners who applied for such return which suggested property was not purchased for permanent use. Basically, the government leased certain properties for temporary use, paid for such use, and now desires to return it. Why shouldn't such return be automatically?

 

In the Bellefonte project the 1,600 acres of land under discussion was purchased. About 85% of the land was forests, crops, and pastures. As such TVA can dispose of it whenever and however it decides. It decided to auction the unimproved and improved property to the highest bidder.

 

So no inconsistency in either of my remarks.

 

 

I doubt eminent domain was used to procure the land. The TVA is government corporation and does not have the right to use eminent domain. 

 

Note stated in the article is the fact that all equipment, turbines, reactor  vessels, thousands of electric motors, etc,  have all been removed. All you get is a massive amount of concrete in a very user unfriendly shape and the land.?

TH 

[MajarTheLion]

13 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Has Iran put a bid in yet?

 

More importantly, have they donated to the Clinton Foundation. Let's get our priorities straight, shall we?

[MajarTheLion]

1 hour ago, thaihome said:

 

You will find, if you bothered to look, that the TVA  is a wholly owned government corporation that receives no federal funding. 

http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/businesses-corporations/tennessee-valley-authority-tva-2147

TH 

 

Fine, but as you said, it's a wholly owned government corporation. That sounds to me like it's someone's tax dollars at work. Who else but government would be stupid enough to spend $5 billion on a project then have the starting bid at auction be $36.4 million?

[thaihome]

17 minutes ago, MajarTheLion said:

 

Fine, but as you said, it's a wholly owned government corporation. That sounds to me like it's someone's tax dollars at work. Who else but government would be stupid enough to spend $5 billion on a project then have the starting bid at auction be $36.4 million?

It's a public utility (the largest in the US) that sells bonds to finance such construction paid off from revenue derived from selling the electricity.  The users paid the $5 billion in their rates.  Didn't read the link obviously.  

 

It's one of many US government corporations 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_government-owned_companies#United_States

 

Most do not use tax dollars.

TH 

[gk10002000]

16 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Return the land to the owners that were 'Eminently Domainned' out of their property. When the government confiscates land for some worthy purpose and then doesn't fulfill that responsibility then the land should return to the rightful owners.

Make it a preserve, nature center, etc. 

[MajarTheLion]

4 hours ago, thaihome said:

It's a public utility (the largest in the US) that sells bonds to finance such construction paid off from revenue derived from selling the electricity.  The users paid the $5 billion in their rates.  Didn't read the link obviously.  

 

It's one of many US government corporations 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_government-owned_companies#United_States

 

Most do not use tax dollars.

TH 

 

You're right, I didn't read the link. I stand corrected.