Millstone Asks Feds for Climate-Related License Change

According to the CT Mirror, the Millstone nuclear power plant recently asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to revise its license to allow the seawater used to cool the plant’s generating units to reach a temperature of 80 degrees. Under its current license, the water cannot exceed 75 degrees averaged over a 24-hour period or 77 degrees at any point.  Last August, Millstone’s Unit 2 had to shut down when the water’s temperature passed the 75 degree threshold.  According to the article, temperatures in Long Island Sound, the source of Millstone’s seawater, have risen almost three degrees since the plant began operating in 1975.  This year, however, Millstone says that water temperatures are two to three degrees cooler than they were last year, thanks to a cooler, wetter winter and cooler, drier spring.   The NRC is not expected to review Millstone’s request until 2014.