A total of four nuclear reactors (two originally; and two of new designs), have been proposed for the site over a 40-year period, with over $4 billion having been spent (constructing the preliminary plant infrastructure and ordering/delivering/installing major equipment items).

Starting after its termination in 2005, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) implemented an investment recovery effort to recoup some of the costs associated with Bellefonte.

The two partially built 1,256 megawatt (MWe) pressurized water reactors on the site were made by Babcock & Wilcox; they are called a 205 design due to the number of fuel assemblies in the core.

This request was granted by the NRC on February 9, 2009, albeit as a terminated application, which required significant inspection of all systems to bring the license to the deferred stage.

[19] Haney's bid beat the only other bidder, Jackson Holdings of Alabama LLC, which was hoping to use components from the unfinished plant for a reactor under construction in India.

[22][23] In August 2018, it was reported that Haney agreed to pay Michael Cohen (associate of President Donald Trump) $10 million in exchange for help obtaining federal funding for the project.

[27] In December 2018, TVA pulled out of the sale agreement, citing failure by Haney to obtain regulatory approval for the transfer of the site.

A federal judge ruled in May 2019 that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must continue to honor an agreement to sell the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant to a real estate developer who has said he would complete construction of the long-idled project.

[31] On 10 September 2021, TVA submitted a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission withdrawing its request for an extension of the construction permits for the plant’s unfinished Babcock & Wilcox pressurized water reactors.