Power Plants // Current TV

Nikola Tesla and the Secrets Hidden in the Pyramids of Egypt

From the Baghdad battery to the ark lights we now know the Ancients were charged. But... more

Dagum
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1 year ago
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63 comments

Wisconsin Legislators Just Write Whatever They Want, Koch Bros. Win Again!

A big thank-you to xoff at UppityWisconsin for this find. Remember that power plant... more

joeeddy
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2 years ago
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OSMOTIC POWER "NEW & GREEN" Groundbreaking Renewable Energy; Osmotic Power

Statkraft has finally opened the first ever-built osmotic power prototype. This was... more

BUILDUSMAXIMUS
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3 years ago
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Island Nation, Citing Climate Change Threat, Goes After Czech Coal Plant

As small island countries fight for a climate treaty that can ensure their existence,... more

fordlyn
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3 years ago
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Coal Plant-Emitted Uranium Linked To Birth Defects In Punjab India Cities

You might think of any given coal type as having relatively uniform properties: black,... more

TheodoreSouza
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3 years ago
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1 comment

Modular designs make nuclear reactors fast & cheap?

A new type of nuclear reactor that is designed to be manufactured in a factory rather... more

Anyother
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3 years ago
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POO! UK to Power Homes with Human Waste!

Within two years, thousands of people will be preparing their dinner and heating their... more

burukku16
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3 years ago
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8 comments

Does this provide some inspiration?

When I read this article by Allison Potter it supplied me with some hope. She asks... more

GreenhouseNeutralFoundation
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4 years ago
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3 comments

Why are we down the toilet?

Our political MASTERS are not listening to logic. Not only are their policies... more

GreenhouseNeutralFoundation
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4 years ago
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11 comments

Effort to Relax Pollution Limits Is Dropped

Good news for the environment. > The Bush administration said Wednesday that it... more

ninthstate
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4 years ago
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Bush Administration Loosens Laws Restricting Power Plant Pollution

The Bush administration is moving to adopt rules that would loosen pollution controls... more

thedismembermentplan
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4 years ago
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Billions of fish, fish eggs die in power plants

For a newly hatched striped bass in the Hudson River, a clutch of trout eggs in Lake Michigan or a baby salmon in San Francisco Bay, drifting a little too close to a power plant can mean a quick and turbulent death.

Sucked in with enormous volumes of water, battered against the sides of pipes and heated by steam, the small fry of the aquatic world are being sacrificed in large numbers each year to the cooling systems of power plants around the country.

Environmentalists say the nation's power plants are needlessly killing fish and fish eggs with their cooling systems, but energy-industry officials say opponents of nuclear power are exaggerating the losses.

The issue is affecting the debate over the future of a nuclear plant in the suburbs north of New York City, and the facilities and environmentalists are closely watching the outcome here to see how to proceed in other cities around the country. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this term in a lawsuit related to the matter.

The issue's scope is tremendous. More than 1,000 power plants and factories around the country use water from rivers, lakes, oceans and creeks as a coolant. At Indian Point plant in New York, the two reactors can pull in 1.7 million gallons of water per minute. Nineteen plants on or near the California coast use 16.3 billion gallons of sea water every day.

Most of the casualties are just fish eggs, and for many species, it takes thousands of eggs to result in one adult fish. The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration, which counts only species that are valuable for commerce or recreation, uses various formulas and says the number of eggs and larvae killed each year at the nation's large power plants would have grown into 1.5 billion year-old fish.

Environmentalists note that even fish that die before maturity contribute to the ecosystem as food for larger fish and birds, and as predators themselves on smaller organisms. But once they've gone through the power plant, they become decomposing detritus on the river bottom and have moved from the top to the bottom of the food chain, said Reed Super, an environmental lawyer specializing in the federal Clean Water Act.

"This is a really significant ongoing harm to our marine ecosystem," says Angela Haren, program director for the California Coastkeeper Alliance in San Francisco.

Technology has long existed that might reduce the fish kill by 90 percent or more. Cooling towers allow a power plant to recycle the water rather than continuously pump it in. New power plants are required to use cooling towers, but most existing plants resist any push to convert, citing the huge cost and claiming that most fish eggs and larvae are doomed anyway. For a newly hatched striped bass in the Hudson River, a clutch of trout eggs in Lake... more