While many people know that power plants are a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gasses, few are aware that many of those same plants kill and injure fish and other aquatic life. Electric power plants – both nuclear and fossil-fueled – withdraw massive amounts of water from rivers, lakes and estuaries for cooling steam used to create electricity. These power plant withdrawals, which add up to about 100 trillion gallons per year nationwide, kill trillions of fish and other aquatic organisms, particularly small, fragile eggs and larvae, altering the ecological integrity of the entire aquatic food chain. Antiquated “once-through” cooling systems are the culprit.
Modern technology is readily available to prevent this damage, in the form of closed-cycle cooling systems that re-circulate water harmlessly like a car radiator, but nearly 500 power plants nationwide do not use it.
Entrainment: Takes place when small organisms, such as eggs and larvae, are sucked into a power plant’s cooling system along with the massive withdrawal of cooling waters from a water body.
Impingement: Occurs when larger fish (and other aquatic organisms) are trapped against the screens that filter large debris from the intake structures during cooling water withdrawal.
Once-Through Cooling: Water is drawn into the power plant from a local body of water to absorb heat and is then discharged back into the water body at an elevated temperature.
Closed-Cycle Cooling: In a closed-cycle wet cooling system, cooling water is circulated first through the plant to absorb heat, then through cooling cells to evaporate heat to the atmosphere and condense steam back to liquid to be recirculated through the plant. A closed-cycle dry cooling system uses radiator-type coils to transfer heat to air passing over the coils.
For more information contact:
Kyle Rabin, Director Peter Hanlon, Research and Policy Analyst Tel: 212-726-9161 info@NewEnergyChoices.org
