SCOTTSBORO, Ala. - The Tennessee Valley Authority has delayed giving the go-ahead on a reactor at its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in northeast Alabama, due to the emergency situation at a plant in Japan.

TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore told The Daily Sentinel in Scottsboro that the utility's board will not be asked at its April 14 meeting to approve completing the reactor.

Kilgore said today the "good news is we're not stopping" on Bellefonte.

The indefinite delay will not affect about 500 workers who are at the site doing engineering work.

Kilgore said the tentative startup date for the facility is still in the 2018-2019 timeframe.

Kilgore said TVA will learn from Japan's ongoing situation with leaking reactors since an earthquake and tsunami.