CHATTANOOGA - Environmentalists are worried about increased spent nuclear fuel stored at Tennessee Valley Authority power plants, calling the waste "a recipe for disaster." TVA officials, however, say the storage method is safe. Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens, Ala., with more than 1,400 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste stored in an elevated pool inside the plant, is among the nation's leaders in onsite spent nuclear fuel. "This waste is being piled up on the river banks, and the river is the drinking water source for thousands of people," said Stephen Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "Couple that with the known terrorists' threats, and it's very discomforting." The material is placed in an elevated pool until it cools enough to be moved to a permanent disposal site, but it's unclear when that will occur. The new storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., was delayed again last week until at least 2017. "http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/midsouth_news/article/0,1426,MCA_1497_4892467,00.html":http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/midsouth_news/article/0,1426,MCA_1497_4892467,00.html