New York Regulators Deny Water Permit for Nuclear Plant

[Javaman]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304247104575162313080844120.html

NEW YORK -- New York environmental regulators have denied a key water-quality certification Entergy Corp. needs to extend by 20 years its license to operate the 2,000-megawatt Indian Point nuclear-power plant.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation said in a letter to Entergy dated April 2 that the two units of the plant "do not and will not comply with existing New York State water quality standards," even with the addition of a new screening technology favored by Entergy to protect aquatic life. The plant's existing "once-through" system withdraws and returns as much as 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson River water a day for cooling, a system blamed by environmentalists for damaging the river's ecosystem and killing millions of fish a year, including the endangered shortnose sturgeon.

Certification under the Clean Water Act is required before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission can approve an extension of the operating license for Indian Point, which generates enough electricity to power approximately 2 million homes and is major power source for New York City. The licenses for Indian Point units 2 and 3, which came online in the 1970s, are due to expire in September 2013 and December 2015, respectively.

The denial of the water permit comes less than a month after New York's utility regulator rejected Entergy's plan to spin off five of its nuclear power plants into a new company, threatening the creation of the nation's first stand-alone nuclear generator after a lengthy regulatory battle. It also follows the Vermont Senate's February rejection of a 20-year extension of the operating license for the state's sole nuclear power plant, Vermont Yankee, which is also owned by Entergy.

[One_Life_To_Give]

1. So much easier to buy from HydroQuebec

Sooner or later we are going to be forced to stop building/expanding beyond what our power and water infrastructure can provide. And similarly will require a planned replacement program before allowing discontinuation and any power/water source.