Savannah River Victory - Two Nuclear Reactors Delayed at Plant Vogtle!
 

Georgia Water Coalition partners and friends had a huge victory for the Savannah River in an initial legal effort to prevent two more nuclear reactors from being built at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle.  The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s three-judge panel ruled that the citizen groups can intervene into the proceeding to argue on two water-related issues.

   The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board concluded that threats to the Savannah River and surrounding environment need to be further examined by Southern Company.

 This includes concerns about the impacts on the river of withdrawing large amounts of water from the river and the resulting thermal discharge, or heated water, from the proposed reactors.  Of special concern are two fish species found in the Savannah: the shortnose sturgeon, a federally protected endangered species, and the robust redhorse, a rare fish that until recently was considered extinct. The groups argued that Southern Company did not acknowledge the impacts that the additional reactors would have on the fish and river ecosystem.  The proposed reactors would essentially double both the amount of water being withdrawn and the amount of discharge going back into the Savannah River.

 For more information on the Plant Vogtle struggle, see the GEC's January-February 2007 newsletter or visit http://www.glynnenvironmental.org/public_meeting11-06.htm or read the full Southern Alliance For Clean Energy news release on this subject at http://www.cleanenergy.org/mediaRoom/index.cfm?pressID=163&sortorder=state&flow=1