Between The Lines - David Lochbaum: Millstone Nuclear Plant Shuts Down Due to High Ocean Temperatures - Another Global-Warming Signpost (Week Ending Aug. 31, 2012)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

Thank you for donating

If you've made a donation and wish to receive thank you gifts for your donation, be sure to send us your mailing address via our Contact form.

See our thank you gifts for your donation.

The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

Subscribe to our Weekly Summary & receive our FREE Resist Trump window cling

(Car window cling)

Email us with your mailing address at contact@btlonline.org to receive our "Resist Trump/Resist Hate" car window cling!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

BTL Blog

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Special Programming

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Progressive Resources

A compilation of activist and news sites with a progressive point of view

Share this content:

|

Subscribe to BTL

Podcasts: direct or via iTunes

Subscribe to Program Summaries, Interview Transcripts or Counterpoint via email or RSS feed

If you have other questions regarding subscriptions, feeds or podcasts/mp3s go to our Audio Help page.

Between The Lines Blog

Stay connected to BTL

Learn how to support our efforts!

Tweets by @BTLRadioNews

Another Climate Change Warning Sign: Connecticut Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Due to High Ocean Temperatures

RealAudio MP3

Posted Aug. 22, 2012

Interview with David Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

On Aug. 12, Unit 2 of the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, CT was shut down because the temperature of the ocean water used to cool elements of the reactor core was too high. Water in Long Island Sound reached a temperature of 75 degrees, causing the plant to go through an emergency shutdown and was still not operating as of a week later. This was the first such incident since the plant went online in 1975. Although nuclear plants in previous years have had to shut down due to the high temperature of fresh water in lakes and rivers, this is the first shut down due to high ocean temperatures.

A week before the shutdown, Millstone received authorization from the NRC to take an average of three temperature measurements of water in the intake pipes for Unit 2, rather than using the single highest measure. Water temperatures in Long Island Sound this summer are the warmest on record, in line with the finding that July air temperatures have been the hottest recorded since record-keeping began in 1895.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with David Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an organization that is not opposed to nuclear power, just to unsafe operation. He describes how a nuclear power plant’s cooling system works, the impact such a system has on the surrounding aquatic environment and how climate change will negatively affect the operation of nuclear reactors.

DAVID LOCHBAUM: Nuclear power plants are 33 percent efficient, which means for every three units of energy produced by the reactor core, one unit of electricity is sent out on the transmission lines, and two units of energy must be dissipated to the environment as waste heat. That's why these power plants are built next to lakes, rivers or oceans. They're the source of cooling water to carry away those two units of thermal pollution. Nuclear power plants use lots of cooling water for this reason. That water leaves the power plant up to 30 degrees warmer as it carries away that waste heat, and the large amounts of water and the higher temperatures have had effects on the local aquatic wildlife. There's no free lunch; that's part of the baggage that nuclear power plants have – they do have an impact on the environment from their operation.

BETWEEN THE LINES: If they return the water so much hotter, wouldn't that in itself contribute to heating up the water in the Sound?

DAVID LOCHBAUM: Yes, the thermal pollution discharge from an operating power plant does tend to warm up the nearby cooling water source, and just aggravates an existing problem. That's one of the reasons why either a reactor power reduction or a shutdown is necessary to maintain the water temperature within the limits. Another odd – or not intuitive – consequences from a nuclear power plant discharging water 30 degrees above what it came in is that the biggest danger sometimes is when a plant shuts down, particularly in the winter, where you're discharging very warm water, fish and other things attracted by that warm water. And when a plant turns off, all of a sudden that 30 degrees warmer water almost instantly cools off and the thermal shock has been detrimental to fish, many times in many places.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Dave Lochbaum, Millstone is one of the plants that uses what's called a once-through water system, which creates these damaging impacts to aquatic life by heating up the water. Are there any other kinds of nuclear plants that do it better?

BETWEEN THE LINES: What does it cost to put up a cooling tower?

DAVID LOCHBAUM: To add a cooling tower to an existing plant would cost upward of $100 million. That's a reason why the plant owners are a little bit reluctant to do it; it would take them many years to recoup that investment. It also costs them money over the life of the plant because you don't make as much electricity when you have cooling towers as you would when you're just drawing water from the ocean. So both the initial cost and the recurring annual cost is the reason owners are not fond of...so far no U.S. plant has back-fitted cooling towers. They've all shut down or gotten continued waivers to continue operation. New nuclear power plants – or power plants more generally – are built with cooling towers from the get-go.

BETWEEN THE LINES: The first thing I thought of when I saw the reason they shut it down is global warming...climate change. Does that figure in here? It seems like it would.

DAVID LOCHBAUM: Yeah, Millstone and other nuclear power plants are designed and built based on historical patterns of temperatures, precipitation, earthquakes, volcanic activity and so on. All that is looking backwards, what has been the history of those natural conditions for the proposed site. They don't look forward, so when global warming causes temperatures to rise above what historical patterns have been, their margins may not be sufficient to protect them against global warming. Many have said that nuclear power can be an answer to global warming, but it's really the reverse: We're going to have to solve global warming for nuclear power to have a future.

To learn more about Union of Concerned Scientists’ Nuclear Safety Project visit UCSUSA.org.