Reactor case will consider harm to bass

Reactor case will consider harm to bass

Jun. 18--By Greg Edwards, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Striped bass at Lake Anna will get their day in court -- so to speak.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission judges have ruled that opponents of new nuclear reactors at the lake may argue that reactor cooling water released at high temperatures could harm bass in the lake and in the stream below the dam.

A Dominion Resources Inc. subsidiary that runs the North Anna Power Station is applying for two new reactor sites at North Anna, where two reactors already operate. The company has no plans to construct the sites now, but a federal permit would be good for 20 years should Dominion decide to build.

Dominion should complete an environmental study of the proposed sites this year. The judges' ruling means a hearing will be held after that on the striped-bass issue.

Three environmental groups, including Public Citizen, filed 10 challenges to the proposed sites last year, but federal regulators winnowed those down to the striped-bass issue.

Michele Boyd of Public Citizen said the groups wanted the impact of hot cooling water on all aquatic species considered, but regulators limited the consideration to striped bass. Her group opposes new nuclear plants on waste, safety, security, cost and proliferation grounds, Boyd said.

In April, the Dominion subsidiary asked that the striped-bass challenge also be dismissed on the grounds that no "genuine" issue exists. The federal agency's staff supported the company.

The NRC judges granted the company's request in part as it regards a possible new reactor that would use a cooling tower rather than discharge cooling water into the lake. The judges, however, denied the company's dismissal request for another possible new reactor that would dump cooling water into the lake.

Dominion had argued that striped bass could survive in the lake but agreed that fish kills could occur under certain circumstances. The company also proposed stocking the lake with Palmetto bass, a more heat-tolerant cross between striped and white bass.

Dominion spokesman Karl Neddenien said the company will show that striped bass would not be adversely impacted by a third reactor.

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