Reactors could cut water supply, group says

GAFFNEY — Two nuclear reactors Duke Energy Corp. is planning to build in Cherokee County could further deplete the drought-tightened water supply, an environmental group said Wednesday.

"Water supply and trends are on a collision course," Louis Zeller, science director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said during a discussion on the issue in Gaffney, referring to South Carolina's drought conditions.

Zeller voiced his concerns during a meeting hosted by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, an independent arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Attorneys for Duke Energy, which said that it has assessed any potential impact on the state's supply, say the supply's safety isn't a concern because the reactors can be shut down safely without relying on an outside water source.

In July, Zeller's group said in a petition against the project that the cost to build the plants and the inherent dangers of operating them outweigh the benefits of increased power generation. The panel could decide by Sept. 22 on the admissibility of the group's concerns.

Charlotte-based Duke operates two other nuclear power plants in South Carolina — one in neighboring York County and the other in Oconee County along the Georgia state line. The North Carolina company is one of nine companies that have filed applications with the NRC to build nuclear power plants, almost all in the Southeast.

South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. of Columbia and state-owned utility Santee Cooper of Moncks Corner have applied to build and operate two additional reactors at their V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County.

State regulators agreed this week to push a public hearing on SCE&G's and Santee Cooper's request expand their Jenkinsville generating site back to Dec. 1 from Oct. 27. The Public Service Commission said it did so to give all interested parties ample time to prepare.

The NRC has not approved a construction license for a new reactor since 1978. If approved, the earliest any of these new reactors could be built and operating is 2016.

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