1) By Carlos Santos
Published: February 23, 2009
A Richmond court’s revocation of Dominion Virginia Power’s permit to dump heated water from its North Anna power station into cooling lagoons will delay construction of a third reactor, environmental groups claimed today.
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer ruled that Virginia Power’s water quality permit violated the federal Clean Water Act and remanded the permit to the Virginia State Water Control Board for review.
“It’s difficult to square the permit with state and federal law,’’ which prohibits thermal pollution in public waters, said Louis Zeller, the science director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, which contested the permit. Zeller said Friday’s ruling has “dealt a blow’’ to the power company’s plans to build a third reactor at the plant in Mineral in Louisa County.
Virginia Power will appeal the ruling, said Jim Norvelle, a company spokesman. He also said he did not believe the ruling would affect construction of Unit 3 if the company decides it should be built.
Norvelle said the company believes that the Clean Air Act does not apply to North Anna because the heated water – which is used in a cooling process in the nuclear plant – flows into a private body of water owned by Virginia Power.
“The lagoons are built to do exactly what they are doing,’’ he said in discounting the idea of thermal pollution. Norvelle said the ruling would not affect the current operation of the plant at North Anna.
Even Zeller said he was surprised by the ruling. “We were both surprised and pleased that the judge saw things our way,’’ he said. “We saw it as clear cut.’’
Some residents of Lake Anna have also publicly spoken about their concerns
2) By Carlos Santos
Published: February 24, 2009
A Richmond court's revocation of a water permit key to operating the North Anna nuclear power station may delay construction of a third nuclear reactor, environmental groups claimed yesterday.
Judge Margaret Spencer of Richmond Circuit Court ruled on Friday that Dominion Virginia Power's water-quality permit violates the federal Clean Water Act and remanded the permit to the Virginia State Water Control Board for review.
The permit allows the power company to dump heated water from its North Anna power station into cooling lagoons at Lake Anna.
"It's difficult to square the permit with state and federal law," which prohibits thermal pollution in public waters, said Louis Zeller, science director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. The league contested the permit.
Zeller said the ruling has dealt a blow to the power company's plans to build a third nuclear reactor at the plant in Mineral in Louisa County.
Virginia Power will appeal the ruling, said Jim Norvelle, a spokesman for the company. He also said he does not believe the ruling would affect construction of a third reactor if the company decides it should be built.
Norvelle said the company believes the federal Clean Air Act does not apply to North Anna because the heated water, which is used in a cooling process in the nuclear plant, flows into a private body of water owned by Virginia Power.
"The lagoons are built to do exactly what they are doing,'' Norvelle said in discounting the idea of thermal pollution. "We believe that at the end of the day, the lower court's decision will be reversed, and we'll have our permit."
Norvelle said the ruling will not affect the current operation of the North Anna plant.
Zeller, however, called the ruling clear cut.
Some residents of Lake Anna also have raised concerns that another nuclear reactor, entailing the need for more cooling water, would raise temperatures in the lagoons to even higher levels. Some residents live along the lagoons, which are located on what is known as the "hot side" of the lake.
Some environmental groups are opposed to the construction of a third nuclear reactor. Jerry Rosenthal, a Louisa resident and anti-nuclear activist with the People's Alliance for Clean Energy based in Charlottesville, said another reactor will be too expensive to build. He also said issues of low and high-level radioactive waste from nuclear plants have not been addressed.
"There are other excellent, faster, cheaper ways to get electricity," said Rosenthal, who applauded Spencer's ruling.
"The issue is thermal pollution," said Rosenthal. "This is clearly an important ruling and should go back to the NRC for consideration."
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees all Nuclear-power plants in the country, has determined that there would be no adverse environmental impact from construction of a third reactor.
Contact Carlos Santos at (434) 295-9542 or csantos@timesdispatch.com .
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/article/ANNA24_20090223-222412/213942/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment