Nuclear Power and the Environment

Articles and information regarding the impacts of nuclear power on the environment.

Nuclear plants sucking the sea life from British waters, researchers claim

The nuclear industry in Britain is killing billions of fish every year and taking a devastating toll of stocks, an Oxford University academic suggests. NOTE FROM ANR - This is also true of nuclear power plants in the United States.

POWER PLANT ONCE-THROUGH COOLING REGULATIONS

The withdrawal of cooling water removes billions of aquatic organisms from waters of the U.S. each year, including fish, fish larvae and eggs, crustaceans, shellfish, sea turtles, marine mammals, and many other forms of aquatic life. Most impacts are to early life stages of fish and shellfish. Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires USEPA to ensure that the location, design, construction and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The State Water Board is in the process of developing a Statewide policy to implement federal 316(b) requirements.

Comments on the State Water Resources Control Board staff’s preliminary draft scoping document on the Statewide Water Quality Control Policy on the Use of Coastal and Estuarine Waters for Power Plant Cooling

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility respectfully (A4NR) submits the following comments on the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Board”) staff’s preliminary draft scoping document on the Statewide Water Quality Control Policy on the Use of Coastal and Estuarine Waters for Power Plant Cooling (“draft policy"). The focus of A4NR comments will be limited to the issue of alternatives to once-through-cooling at California’s aging nuclear reactors. Both Diablo Canyon and San Onofre have been out of compliance for years with their NPDES permits. Southern California Edison (SCE) recently stated they are in compliance; however, the State Water Board should be able to verify this statement. Diablo Canyon has been out of compliance for over a decade.

WATER WORRIES GROW

On a hazy summer day, a pair of anglers fish on a man-made lake in PPL’s Susquehanna Riverlands wildlife habitat. Above them, the massive cooling towers of the Susquehanna nuclear plant billow white plumes of vapor, the byproduct of millions of gallons of water the two reactors consume daily from the river to cool the intense heat generated by nuclear fission