Natural Resources Law Commons^™

The Legal And Regulatory Framework For Thermal Discharge From Nuclear Power Plants, Michael S. Baram

Faculty Scholarship

As the rate of electricity generation increases, and as more nuclear power plants-in contrast to fossil fuel and hydro-electric facilities-are built to meet power needs, the use of cooling water and its subsequent discharge in heated states into the environment is expected to rise to massive levels. Estimates of future cooling water use vary and are subject to technical and economic developments, but by 1990, between 640 and 850 billion gallons per day are expected to be required. This range of water use can be roughly equated to one-half to three fourths of the average daily run-off of fresh water …