July 20, 2010

Proposed Cooling Towers Overall Impact

Buchanan, N.Y. — Fred Dacimo, Vice President – License Renewal of Entergy Nuclear Operations, testified today at a legislative hearing relating to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation proposal denying Entergy’s application to renew Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant’s Section 401 Water Quality Certificate (WQC). His testimony addressed how DEC’s decision is not grounded in science, runs contrary to DEC practice and ignores a proven smarter solution that will resolve concerns about Indian Point’s aquatic impacts.

The major issue that the Department has raised as part of the WQC – operation of Indian Point’s cooling water system – is already the subject of a parallel proceeding before these same ALJs and some of the same parties. “That proceeding to review Indian Point’s water discharge permit, otherwise known as the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or SPDES, is already well underway and will allow a faster resolution of the issues that are important to all of us,” Dacimo said at the hearing.

Entergy requested on April 30 today’s hearing to review the legal and factual bases of the DEC staff’s decision. Entergy asserts that the DEC staff’s WQC denial should be reversed because the state’s WQC proceedings are duplicative. Instead, the staff should have followed the Department’s regular practice of issuing a water quality certificate contingent on the outcome of the separate – and more comprehensive – SPDES permit proceeding, in which Entergy has proposed Wedgewire screens, a state-of-the-art alternative to cooling towers.

Earlier this year Entergy proposed to the DEC to upgrade its cooling systems using Wedgewire screens. Independent reports have shown that Wedgewire screens would not only protect fish populations better than cooling towers over the 20-year license renewal period, they could be built approximately 15 years sooner. Dacimo added later that DEC staff is “ignoring data that shows Indian Point is and will continue to be compliant with water quality standards.”

Entergy is currently seeking a 20-year license renewal for Indian Point. While the state must approve the plant’s water quality and water discharge permits, the DEC staff’s decision and Entergy’s subsequent filing is separate from the NRC’s ongoing review process.

More information about Entergy's Request for Adjudicatory Hearing is available in full at the website www.safesecurevital.com.