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"Vermont Yankee nuclear plant officials say two new cracks have been found and repaired in a rebuilt tower that cools water from the plant. The cracks were found June 17,and were not publicly reported by the plant. The water cools the reactor, but it is not radioactive. The Rutland Herald says the cracks' existence came to light Tuesday during a meeting held by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Plant spokesman Larry Smith said yesterday the cracks in a 36-inch pipe were both about 12 to 15 inches long, and were spilling about 10 gallons of water a minute. He says the problem didn't meet the plant's threshold for public reporting. In August 2007, a different cooling tower at Vermont Yankee collapsed. "

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed Tuesday evening that a large fiberglass pipe in the recently rebuilt cooling towers at Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor had developed an 18-inch crack and was leaking water. Another crack developed in a joint in another location along the same pipe, a spokeswoman for the NRC said. The disclosure of the cracks in the large distribution or header pipe in the east cooling tower comes after Entergy recently completed rebuilding the infrastructure of the two cooling towers over the past three years, after the western tower partially collapsed in August 2007. Samuel Collins, Region One administrator for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Donald Jackson, another NRC official, confirmed the cracks in the cooling tower pipe during a public meeting over the annual assessment of the plant's operation and condition held at Brattleboro Union High School. There are cracks in cell 1-5 and cell 1-8 in the east tower, which is closest to the Connecticut River. Until the issue was brought up by Raymond Shadis, senior technical advisor to the nuclear watchdog group The New England Coalition, about two hours into the meeting, neither Entergy nor NRC officials had mentioned the problem, which was discovered Thursday by Entergy. The leaks have already undergone a temporary repair, according to Entergy spokesman Larry Smith."

"An environmental group lost the latest round in a court fight over a disputed water permit for North Anna Power Station. The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled this week that the State Water Control Board's 2007 renewal of a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit was appropriate. In February, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer sided with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League's contention that the plant's waste heat treatment facility should be subject to the federal Clean Water Act. Since the plant began operating in the late 1970s, Dominion has contended that the lagoon, where heated water from the plant's two reactors is cooled, is a waste facility and not a water impoundment. The lagoon, ringed by houses and boat docks, is also known as the lake's hot side. Water from the hot side eventually drains back into the main lake through a dike."

"Scientists, researchers and other experts warn that the United States is entering an era of water scarcity. Back in 2003, the US General Accounting Office (now known as the US Government Accountability Office or GAO) projected that 36 states, under normal conditions, could face water shortages by 2013. However, those shortages were realized in 2008 -- five years sooner than predicted. Current forecasts suggest that climate change will only exacerbate the challenges of managing and protecting water resources. Water scarcity has widespread implications for our nation. As a recent New York Times (Global Edition) article notes, water scarcity is increasingly a major constraint for the production of electricity. But what, in particular, does this mean for the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants? Generating electricity with nuclear power is extremely water intensive, which is why nuclear plants are typically built on the shores of rivers, lakes and oceans. Many plants rely on submerged intake pipes to draw water -- hundreds of millions to a few billion gallons per day -- for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants' turbines."

"Three degrees might not sound like much. But according to FirstEnergy Corp., a three-degree reduction in Davis-Besse's operating temperature will provide enough safety over the next two years to ensure there is no additional cracking of the steel nozzles that penetrate the reactor's interim head. Now it's up to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide whether it agrees with the utility's analysis of what caused 24 of the massive steel device's 69 nozzles to either develop flaws or full-blown cracks. One had been leaking reactor acid on top of the lid when the flaws were found in mid-March, though - unlike eight years ago - the problem was caught long before any noticeable amount of steel had melted, according to Vito Kaminskas, Davis-Besse's director of plant engineering."

"You could call it the seven-year itch, and it's getting under the skin of environmental and conservation groups who want to see cooling towers at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. A coalition of 10 groups sent representatives to Trenton on Wednesday for the second public hearing on the proposed state water discharge permit for Oyster Creek, and they shared a common message: they want the state Department of Environmental Protection to shrink the permit's seven-year time frame for converting the reactor's once-through cooling water flow to a closed loop system."

"Residents, environmentalists and company officials on Wednesday debated a proposal requiring the Oyster Creek Generating Station to build cooling towers. The state Department of Environmental Protection wants the plant to build cooling towers as part of a water-discharge permit. The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., said closing the plant would be preferable financially to installing a cooling system the company estimated would cost more than $700 million. At the hearing, most local residents and elected officials sided with the company and urged the DEP to let the plant continue using its current cooling system, which circulates 662 million gallons of water per day from canals off the Forked River. Lacey Township Mayor Gary Quinn defended the private jobs and public revenue the plant provides, including more than $11 million in Energy Receipts Taxes the township receives each year. Exelon Corp. lawyer William J. Donohue said 700 plant employees would lose their jobs if the state prevailed in adding cooling towers to the plant's water-discharge permit."

Legislation to mandate new cooling towers at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station will be held until the start of the 2010 session in February when the state Senate Environment Committee can get more information from plant operators Exelon, says committee chairman Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex. 'Barnegat Bay is going to be the major thrust of this spring in front of this committee," Smith said, after telling a hearing room packed with plant workers and environmental activists the committee was split evenly on releasing bill S-3041 today. Exelon officials claimed the bill is singling out Oyster Creek as the biggest threat to Barnegat Bay due to the environmental impact of its cooling water intake and discharge. Company senior vice president James D. Firth said the committee should address the bay's other problems with non-point pollution.

Legislation to mandate new cooling towers at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station will be held until the start of the 2010 session in February when the state Senate Environment Committee can get more information from plant operators Exelon, says committee chairman Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex. 'Barnegat Bay is going to be the major thrust of this spring in front of this committee," Smith said, after telling a hearing room packed with plant workers and environmental activists the committee was split evenly on releasing bill S-3041 today. Exelon officials claimed the bill is singling out Oyster Creek as the biggest threat to Barnegat Bay due to the environmental impact of its cooling water intake and discharge. Company senior vice president James D. Firth said the committee should address the bay's other problems with non-point pollution.

In a surprise announcement, the state Department of Environmental Protection said it is moving to require cooling towers at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant to protect the Barnegat Bay ecosytem. The DEP said Thursday that the proposed water-discharge permit for the plant would require the Exelon Generation Co. to convert its once-through cooling water flow into a closed-cycle system, using the towers, with less daily demand for bay water. "We had a commitment to get this draft permit issued, so we wanted to make sure it gets a proper review," acting DEP Commissioner Mark N. Mauriello said of the cooling tower requirement.

In a surprise announcement, the state Department of Environmental Protection said it is moving to require cooling towers at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant to protect the Barnegat Bay ecosytem. The DEP said Thursday that the proposed water-discharge permit for the plant would require the Exelon Generation Co. to convert its once-through cooling water flow into a closed-cycle system, using the towers, with less daily demand for bay water. "We had a commitment to get this draft permit issued, so we wanted to make sure it gets a proper review," acting DEP Commissioner Mark N. Mauriello said of the cooling tower requirement.

New Jersey environmental officials are requiring the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Ocean County -- the nation's oldest nuclear plant -- to install cooling towers. The design change is considered environmentally-friendly, yet costly, and one the plant operators say will force them to shut down. The state Department of Environmental Protection is requiring the installation of a "closed-cycle cooling system," which involves mostly air-cooling the plant using one or two towers.

New Jersey environmental officials are requiring the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Ocean County -- the nation's oldest nuclear plant -- to install cooling towers. The design change is considered environmentally-friendly, yet costly, and one the plant operators say will force them to shut down. The state Department of Environmental Protection is requiring the installation of a "closed-cycle cooling system," which involves mostly air-cooling the plant using one or two towers.

"State water board regulators are mulling a plan to stop power companies from vacuuming the ocean for water to cool their machinery. Environmentalists said the practice destroys too much sea life, while utility advocates said the impact is minimal. Banning the practice would cost too much, jeopardize the reliability of the electricity grid and slow the state's transition to clean energy, supporters of the practice said. Screens prevent larger animals from entering the plants, but fish can die while trapped against these barriers. Anything smaller than the openings in the screens, including millions of tiny fish larvae, can enter the power plants and also die. Federal rules ban new operations from drawing in seawater for so-called "once-through" cooling systems. State regulators now want to apply this rule to the 19 existing plants from Eureka to San Diego. The board's proposal would give owners a dozen years to comply and contains special provisions for nuclear-plant safety issues. In most cases, plants would have to replace seawater pipes with massive cooling towers that recycle water or use air-cooling platforms. "

"A coalition of environmental groups, fishing interests, and members of the public concerned about the health of Barnegat Bay and the Jersey Shore's livelihood are all calling on Exelon, the owner of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, to stop harming the Bay with continued operation of antiquated "once-through cooling" technology. Continued mass destruction of marine life and water pollution caused by the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant is threatening our entire Jersey Shore economy. We cannot allow the greed of one company, Exelon, to put a natural resource at risk that generates $4 billion dollars annually for our state. This permit is right on the money, and we're calling on NJDEP Commissioner Martin to understand this and adopt the permit. On January 7th, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a draft Clean Water Act permit that requires the company to install a closed loop cooling system on the plant."

"Owners of the nation's oldest nuclear power plant are threatening to shut it down rather than build cooling towers mandated by New Jersey environmental regulators. Exelon Corp. says the $800 million it would cost to build the towers is more than the 40-year-old Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station is worth. But environmentalists say the job could be done for about $200 million. Earlier this year, the state Environmental Protection Department required the plant to build one or more cooling towers instead of relying on water drawn from the Oyster Creek in Lacey Township to cool the reactor."

"The problem: Five Arizona cities--Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale, and Tempe--are facing severe cash shortages. The solution: selling billions of gallons of wastewater to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in a move that will bring $1 billion to city coffers over a 40 year period. It's a unique use for treated wastewater, which is often used in landscaping and on golf courses. Palo Verde is the first nuclear plant ever to use reclaimed wastewater for cooling. AZCentral explains some of the benefits: For Palo Verde, which produces more power than any other U.S. power plant, the deal cements access to a predictable water supply through the plant's expected life span. Predictability is critical in the long-term management of a power plant, which uses water to cool the system, and eases the pain of the higher rates, utility officials said."

"Power has been reduced at the Salem 2 nuclear reactor here because of problems with vegetation clogging the cooling water intakes on the Delaware river, officials said today. Salem 2 was operating at about 82 percent power because of "grassing," the collection of dead phragmites and other plants that have been dislodged from the river shoreline collecting on the screens protecting the water intakes, according to Joe Delmar, spokesman for the plant's operator, PSEG Nuclear. The grassing problem occurs each spring as old vegetation floats downriver. The neighboring Salem 1 nuclear reactor was still operating at full power early this afternoon. "

"In a major victory for environmental advocates, New York State has ruled that outmoded cooling technology at the Indian Point nuclear power plant kills so many Hudson River fish, and consumes and contaminates so much water, that it violates the federal Clean Water Act. The decision is a blow to the plant's owner, the Entergy Corporation, which now faces the prospect of having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build stadium-size cooling towers, or risk that Indian Point's two operating reactors - which supply 30 percent of the electricity used by New York City and Westchester County - could be forced to shut down. Entergy officials said that they were "disappointed" in the ruling and that they might fight it in court. The original federal licenses for the two 1970s-era reactors expire in 2013 and 2015, and a water quality certificate is a prerequisite for a 20-year renewal by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But a prolonged appeal in New York could delay a shutdown, Diane Screnci, a spokeswoman for the commission, said late Saturday. An Entergy spokesman said that converting Indian Point's cooling system would cost $1.1 billion and would require shutting both reactors down entirely for 42 weeks. "

"State considers whether cooling systems that harm environment should be phased out New state rules would require that the cooling system used at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant be phased out within the next 15 years, but would allow plant managers to apply for alternatives that reduce cost. The goal of the rules is to eliminate the method known as once-through cooling, which uses billions of gallons of ocean water daily to cool electrical steam generators. State water officials consider once-through cooling used by 19 coastal power plants to be too damaging to the ocean environment. "Ultimately, once-through cooling has got to go," said Dave Clegern, spokesman for the State Water Resources Control Board. The rules would allow Diablo Canyon, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and a nuclear plant at San Onofre to apply for less stringent requirements to offset the damage of their cooling systems if eliminating once-through cooling is determined to be "wholly out of proportion to the cost.""