"Hot River Forces Costly Cutback For TVA"

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has lost nearly $50 million in power generation from its biggest nuclear plant because the Tennessee River in Alabama is too hot.

Unless the summer cools down, TVA could lose millions of dollars more, pushing up fuel costs and consumer electric bills even after seven consecutive monthly increases.

The Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant near Athens, Ala., has operated at only about half power for most of the past month and could remain at reduced power through September, TVA officials said. The three-reactor plant -- TVA's biggest nuclear facility -- has been the hardest hit of any of the nation's 104 nuclear plants by thermal concerns over river water, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute and TVA."

Dave Flessner reports for the Chattanooga Times Free Press August 23, 2010.