Publication Laka-library:
Licensed to kill. How the nuclear power industry destroys endangered marine wildlife and ocean habitat to save money

AuthorP.Gunter, L.Gunter, Cullen, Borton
3-01-0-20-23.pdf
DateFebruary 2001
Classification 3.01.0.20/23 (UNITED STATES - SAFETY)
Front

From the publication:

                         Executive Summary

            Marine life in all forms, from endangered manatees and sea turtles to essential microscopic
             organisms, is being harmed and killed by once-through cooling systems, used to remove
             waste heat at nuclear power stations. A typical once-through cooling system draws into
each reactor unit more than a billion gallons of water a day, 500,000 gallons a minute. After cycling
through the power generating station, the heated water is discharged at temperatures up to 25 degrees F
hotter than the water into which it flows. A total of 59 out of the 103 U.S. reactor units rely on this
system, either exclusively or in conjunction with closed cycle canals or cooling towers.

This report examines the toll the once-through cooling intake and discharge system takes on marine
biodiversity around nuclear plants, including sea turtles and other endangered marine animals. The
report takes into account the already severe problems affecting the health of U.S. oceans and waterways
and the impacts of nuclear power plant operation within the context of this crisis. The authors review
the cumulative impact of marine ecosystem destruction by coastal nuclear reactors as well as the local
effect on marine life in the vicinity of the plant. Particular attention is given to the effectiveness of
regulatory oversight and the adherence to and implementation of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA),
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

Power Plant Systems and Alternatives
Nuclear power electrical generating stations use the tremendous heat resulting from the controlled split-
ting of the atom to boil water to generate steam for powering
electrical turbogenerators. Atomic reactors produce much more
heat in the fission process than is needed to generate electricity.
For each unit of electrical energy generated, two units of heat
energy are released into the environment. To operate a nuclear
power station efficiently, this waste heat must be removed.

Electric utilities use a variety of methods to remove waste heat
from their nuclear reactors, but most companies rely on the
once-through cooling system. The system transfers the heat load
to the intake water and discharges the heated water back into
the environment, using the same body of water as a heat sink to
absorb and dissipate the excess heat generated by the system. In
contrast, operators using cooling towers draw in a lowered wa-      The damage to endangered species, marine life and habitat, by once-
                                                                    through coolant reactors such as those at St. Lucie, pictured, is
ter intake of about 20,000 gallons a minute, reducing the           catastrophic and in some cases potentially irreversible.
potential for damage to marine life sucked into the nuclear plant.
Cooling towers also eliminate the need to discharge large volumes of heated water into the water source
and the resulting damage to the marine environment in the discharge area.

Overall Harmful Effects of the Once-Through System
The environmental impact of diverting more than a billion gallons of water per unit per day from a
water source such as an ocean or estuary, heating it up, then discharging it at temperatures up to 25
degrees F higher than the surrounding water has been shown to cause significant damage. Not only are
marine animals “entrained” or “impinged” by the intake system, but billions of smaller marine organ-
isms, essential to the food web, are also sucked into the reactor operating system and largely destroyed in
this process. Entrainment involves the drawing in of marine life through an intake tunnel, pipe, or canal
at a velocity the marine animals cannot resist. Once drawn in, they are subject to impingement, becom-
ing trapped against “prevention devices” such as screens, racks, bars, and barrier nets. Larger animals
may then drown or suffocate after becoming impinged.

Smaller fish and other organisms may be entrained through the entire reactor system and are often
scalded by the heated water before being discharged into the waterway. Others, pulverized by the reactor
condenser system, emerge as sediment that clouds the water around the discharge area, often blocking
light from the ocean floor. The resulting shadow effect kills plant and animal life around reactor dis-
charge systems by curtailing the light and oxygen they need to survive.

Regulatory Oversight and Mitigation
The lack of oversight by federal agencies authorized to protect the marine environment from unfettered
industrial development and pollution has alarmed industry watchdog and animal protection organiza-
tions. Ecological concerns include the destruction of marine species and their
surrounding habitat, particularly the killing and capturing of endangered spe-     Under the present system, the
cies through the routine operation of atomic reactors.                             nuclear industr y’s needs
                                                                                            almost always prevail over the
Under the present system, the nuclear industry’s needs almost always prevail over
the interests of marine life. The use of technology that is least harmful and pollut-       interests of marine life.
ing to the environment is a prerequisite of the CWA. However, installation of
cooling towers, unquestionably an improvement over once-through cooling systems, has been selectively
enforced at atomic reactor sites and resisted by utilities hoping to avoid the expense. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for enforcing compliance with intake and discharge permits at reactors
under the terms of the CWA, has largely failed to establish national performance standards. This failure has
resulted in at least one lawsuit to date, forcing EPA to revise its national performance standards for both new
and existing power plants. This process is ongoing.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is entrusted with the enforcement of licensee
regulations under the Endangered Species Act but frequently acts instead as an advocate for the
nuclear industry. The NRC often persuades the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the
agency that governs the protection of most marine animals, to back away from more stringent
actions that would minimize destruction of these animals and their habitat. To save the industry
money, requirements that would protect marine life and habitat are weakened, watered down, or
done away with entirely at nuclear reactors.

Instead of applying sanctions when a nuclear plant kills more than its allowed quota of an endangered
species, as laid out in the incidental take statement issued by NMFS, NRC acts on behalf of the plant owner
to secure a larger quota. If a plant exceeds its allowed take limit, it must renegotiate a new limit. This is
known as reinitiation of consultation under ESA Section 7. The utility must first prepare a biological assess-
ment of the problem. After discussion with NMFS and NRC, and an NMFS draft response, NMFS issues
its final biological opinion, setting out the new take limits and establishing the new incidental take state-
ment. NRC is invariably an advocate for the utility during this process. For example, at reactors where sea
turtles are captured, NRC consistently encourages NMFS to withdraw from its biological opinion most of
the requirements that are important to the long-term survival of the species such as habitat studies, tissue
sampling, video studies, and comprehensive animal necropsies. NRC also supports industry attempts to
raise the limit on the number of animals that can be killed or captured during reactor operation.