TVA planning fusion energy research at retired coal plant - Chattanooga Times Free Press
TVA planning fusion energy research at retired coal plant | Chattanooga Times Free Press
AP Photo/Wade Payne, File / TVA's Bull Run coal plant, shown here in 2005, was shut down Dec. 1. Part of the site will be used by Type One Energy to build its Infinity One stellarator to help advance commercial fusion energy.
Less than three months after the Tennessee Valley Authority shut down its Bull Run Fossil Plant, the abandoned coal operation may soon become a test site for a key component of nuclear fusion energy seen by its proponents as "the holy grail" for future clean energy.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.