New York Plant’s Water Permit Denied by State Regulators

The New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on April 2 denied a water-quality standards certification for Units 2 and 3 of Entergy Corp.’s Westchester County-based Indian Point nuclear powerplant. The certification, under Clean Water Act guidelines, is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the units’ operating licenses for the next 20 years. The current licenses expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively. DEC says the units, which generate 1078 MW and 1080 MW, respectively, daily take in 2.5 billion gallons of water from the Hudson River and discharge the untreated water back into the river. DEC says the discharge can potentially harm larvae of two fish species; the agency recommends the utility put in place a closed-cycle cooling system. Entergy claims that building such a system is not reasonable and would cost over $1 billion.