The Associated Press reports:
Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be
forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year
because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power
plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate.
The story continues:
Utility officials say such shutdowns probably
wouldn't result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher
electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region's
utilities may be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other
energy companies.
Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the summer.
"Water is the nuclear industry's Achilles'
heel," said Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and
Reduction Network, an environmental group critical of nuclear power.
"You need a lot of water to operate nuclear plants." He added: "This is
becoming a crisis."
An Associated Press analysis of the nation's 104
nuclear reactors found that 24 are in areas experiencing the most
severe levels of drought. All but two are built on the shores of lakes
and rivers and rely on submerged intake pipes to draw billions of
gallons of water for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has
turned the plants' turbines.
