Aug 18 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Greg Edwards Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Many who live near Dominion Virginia Power's Louisa County nuclear plant are concerned about the utility's plans to expand the two-reactor plant -- even those who favor nuclear power.

State Department of Environmental Quality officials listened to their concerns during a three-hour public hearing Wednesday night.

A key concern is a proposed cooling tower for a third reactor that would use lake water. Residents say the small watershed doesn't provide enough water to cool a third unit without raising lake temperatures and adversely affecting water levels.

The plant's two reactors use lake water for cooling but no cooling towers. Hot water returns to the lake through a series of lagoons -- a system residents say creates water-temperature issues that the state agency needs to look at.

The utility is seeking a 20-year federal permit for approved sites for up to two additional reactors. It will decide whether to build reactors by the end of next year.

Before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission can issue a site permit, the state agency must certify that the expansion would not harm Virginia coastal area natural resources.

The utility applied for the federal site permit in September 2003. Early last year, the NRC staff preliminarily approved a draft environmental statement for the permit.

Later, however, the utility revised plans for the third reactor to include a cooling tower to respond to concerns about lake temperatures. The NRC staff recommended that the utility's new plan be approved even before this week's hearings.

However, lake resident Harry Ruth told state officials Wednesday that the utility's plans are inconsistent with Virginia's coastal-management program and still don't solve temperature concerns. Ruth spoke for the 2,650-member Friends of Lake Anna, a group that Ruth said supports new reactors.

Lake temperatures exceed federal Clean Water Act standards on occasion, and the hot water's impact on the health of humans, fish and wildlife should be examined by DEQ, Ruth said.

He said the Clean Water Act should be enforced across the lake, including the cooling lagoons, which are exempt from parts of the act.

He and other speakers said Dominion Virginia Power should use a dry-air cooling system for a third reactor. The utility has proposed a dry system for a fourth reactor, should one be built.

Some local residents and representatives for the Sierra Club and other public-interest groups oppose new reactors. They mentioned environmental and safety concerns, problems with disposing of nuclear waste, and the public subsidies that seem to be required to build nuclear plants.

Christopher Paine, a Charlottesville resident and nuclear analyst for the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said better efficiency in electricity use would free up electricity at a cost two-thirds cheaper than building nuclear plants.

Speaking in support of the permit was Gene Bailey, president of the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, an economic-development group. He said new reactors would create high-paying jobs and energy supplies to power the regional economy.

Pamela Faggert, Dominion Virginia Power's chief environmental officer, told state officials that the utility believes its plans, including the cooling tower, comply with the state's coastal program. The proposed cooling system is designed to reduce water evaporation, particularly during dry periods, she said.