Entergy

How They Work

In a recirculating system, cooling water is pumped from the condenser to a “wet” cooling tower, where the ambient air cools and condenses the steam, thereby converting it to hot water. The hot water is returned to the plant and converted back into the system.

Air Quality Impact

“Buildable” but probably “not permittable”

• Cooling towers emit more than 100 tons of particulate matter per year
  • Air pollution is a leading cause of respiratory illness, especially among the very young and the elderly.
• Westchester County is a “Non Attainment Area” for Particulate Matter. No identified mitigation measures is feasible or effective.
• Salt content in the emissions are not benign.
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Aesthetic Impact

• Towers are 170 feet tall (equivalent to a 17 story building) and 500 feet wide
• Emissions year round but visible plumes estimated approximately 10% of the time
• Unprecedented scale and scope of alteration on scenic Hudson Valley

Zoning Issues

“The Village of Buchanan has zoning and other land use laws that serve to protect our environment and the well-being of the people of Buchanan. Let there be no mistake that the Village of Buchanan will enforce its zoning laws and other land use laws to prevent cooling towers from devastating the environment and economy of Buchanan and surrounding areas.”

-Dan O’Neill, Former Mayor of Buchanan (January 29, 2004)

Variance from Village of Buchanan Board of Appeal:

• Approval from Village of Buchanan is required to authorize height of towers.
• Approval may also be required to authorize blasting and disposal of spoils from excavation site.
• Relief from air-related performance standards will likely be required for the cooling towers.

Village Planning Board must approve cooling tower development plan.

Construction Process

The area requiring excavation for each cooling tower is comparable to Yankee Stadium in size.

• Construction of Cooling Towers would require Spectra Energy to temporarily shut down and move the Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline, a major provider of natural gas to New England.If required, Spectra Energy plans to appeal.
• Piping area required for Cooling Towers is a complex excavation process in a high-traffic area.

Implementation Process

September 2029

Bottom line: Towers in operation in June or September 2029.

Wedgewires Screens

Description

Cylindrical Wedgewire Screens would significantly reduce entrainment and impingement of Hudson River fish.

• Wedgewire screens allow water to be “filtered” prior to entering the plants' cooling system eliminating the possibility of clogging pumps.
• Fish, fish larvae, and fish eggs larger than the slot size are excluded from the intake screens.
• Flow-through slot velocity (0.5fps or less) eliminates the possibility of extrusion.

How They Work

• Avoidance is the behavioral response to certain conditions by which early life stages of fish are able to avoid and detect threats.
• Avoidance ability is a function of biological and physical forces:
  • Increased age and length generally improve swimming ability
  • Reduced velocity generally improves ability to avoid conditions
  • Flow dynamic may create a signal for and enable juvenile fish to undertake avoidance action
• Avoidance ability can be plotted as a function of fish length encountering wedgewire screen slots of different sizes.

Implementation Process

April 2013-2015

Bottom line: Wedgewire Screens in operation at Unit 2 in April 2013/14, and at Unit 3 in April 2014/15.

• Wedgewire screens can be installed in 5 years.

Challenges

Gunderboom® are not considered as the primary alternative to the current intake screening systems due to the following challenges:

• Operational issues, as demonstrated at Limerick Generating Station
• High annual maintenance costs, including yearly deployment and retrieval
• Significant nuclear challenges associated with possible intake flow blockages to the safety related SW pumps
• Anchoring system has proven to be ineffective
• Ice floes in the Hudson River could uproot the Gunderboom rendering it ineffective
• Gunderboom technology susceptible to fouling

Conclusion

Wedgewire Technology offers the best environmental solution to protect human health, the environment and the fish populations in the Hudson.

The screens can be installed by 2015, and begin to further enhance fish protection efforts a full 15 years ahead of Cooling Towers.

Cooling Towers pose significant environmental and permitting problems that are highly likely to generate numerous law suits that will delay the permitting and construction if in fact they can be permitted.