The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the Millstone Power Station in Waterford the approval to use warmer water from Long Island Sound in its cooling processes, two years after hot temperatures forced the facility to shut down one of its two nuclear reactors.
NRC approved the use of Sound water up to 80 degrees for the Millstone Unit 3 cooling systems. Unit 2 at the power facility had received previous approval to increase it max temperature usage from 75 to 80 degrees. Unit 1 has been decommissioned.
In 2012, Millstone was forced to shut down its Unit 2 for 11 days after the temperatures in Long Island Sound made the water unsafe for cooling systems. Virginia-based Dominion, which owns Millstone, requested that following May 2013 that the safety threshold be increased to 80 degrees.
“Longer term, they want to make a change in the water temperature limit,” said Neil Sheehan, NRC spokesman.
