Impact on the steam electric power industry of deleting Section 316(a) of the Clean Water Act: Capital costs.

摘要

Many power plants discharge large volumes of cooling water. In some cases, the temperature of the discharge exceeds state thermal requirements. Section 316(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) allows a thermal discharger to demonstrate that less stringent thermal effluent limitations would still protect aquatic life. About 32% of total US steam electric generating capacity operates under Section 316(a) variances. In 1991, the US Senate proposed legislation that would delete Section 316(a) from the CWA. This study, presented in two companion reports, examines how this legislation would affect the steam electric power industry. This report describes alternatives available to nuclear and coal-fired plants currently operating under variances. Data from 38 plants representing 14 companies are used to estimate the national cost of implementing such alternatives. Although there are other alternatives, most affected plants would be retrofitted with cooling towers. Assuming that all plants currently operating under variances would install cooling towers, the national capital cost estimate for these retrofits ranges from $22.7 billion to $24.4 billion (in 1992 dollars). The second report quantitatively and qualitatively evaluates the energy and environmental impacts of deleting the variance. Little justification has been found for removing the Section 316(a) variance from the CWA.