By Associated Press
Knoxville TN – A former Tennessee Valley Authority chairman is stunned the nation's largest public utility is leading the country's nuclear revival now.
S. David Freeman oversaw the cancellation of eight of 17 planned TVA reactors in the late 1970s and early 1980s after determining they were too expensive and unnecessary. But TVA's nuclear program has rebounded. It has six reactors online, is building a seventh and has applied to build two more at the Bellefonte site in Alabama.
Freeman, an alternative energy advocate and longtime California resident, visited his hometown of Chattanooga on Thursday to meet with environmental groups opposed to the Bellefonte plant.
Freeman said he was "appalled" that TVA is pursuing more nuclear now instead of wind or solar energy, calling utility officials "nuclear-holics."
And he worries about the billions of dollars the new plants will cost ratepayers.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed