CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority is giving up its construction permit for an unfinished nuclear plant in northeast Alabama nearly 50 years after work began on the facility.

The TVA notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week that it would not renew its regulatory permit at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. The move came after a federal judge agreed to cancel the proposed sale of the plant to developer Franklin L. Haney's Nuclear Development LLC because the company wasn't able to transfer the construction permit.

Haney could still appeal, but the decision signals the end of any new nuclear plant construction at TVA, the newspaper reported.

The public utility decided to stop work at the facility and in 2016 put the 1,400-acre (566 hectares) site up for sale. The utility had been maintaining the property while Haney's group pursued the purchase, which was contingent on the group transferring the construction permit.

Haney declined to comment on the court decision.