The Assessment of Environmental Impacts at Nuclear Power Generating Stations

The Federal actions that are required with regard to nuclear power stations are the granting of a construction permit and later the issuance of a license to operate the station. Since the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) is responsible for these actions, the Commission is also responsible for preparation of an environmental statement on the proposed actions. The National Laboratories including the one at Oak Ridge are used as part of the staff in preparing the statements. The staff makes an independent determination of the plant effluents and their dispersions. The impact of these and plant construction on the environment are assessed by the staff. Alternatives to the proposed plant are similarly evaluated as are alternative subsystems such as the proposed waste heat removal system. Finally the environmental costs are compared with the benefits. A number of assessments have resulted in required changes in heat removal systems, chemical treatment procedures and radioactive waste systems to reduce the impacts to an acceptable level. The benefits of the modified stations have been shown to outweigh the environmental costs