China Nuclear Expansion Limits Risks CH 5 Only

Chinas Nuclear Expansion: Limits and Risks
Ch 5 Environmental Issues and Once Through Cooling

By Alyssum Pohl

Introduction
Environmental impacts associated with once-through cooling (OTC) remain one of the
major impediments to siting nuclear power plants in the United States. Specifically, the
impingement and entrainment of native species in the suction pipes of OTC plants as well as the
discharge of warm water into cooler waters can cause tremendous impact on the surrounding
habitat and biota. This chapter briefly addresses Chinas uncertain environmental regulation
schemes to deal with these impacts, as well as alternative technologies.
Despite climate envoy Xie Zhenuas recent statement at the UNFCCC meeting in Durban
that China would be willing to bear the obligations of a legally binding committment by 2020,
China has historically not taken a strong international anti-climate change stance
1
. As the
worlds greatest carbon emitter, this may not come as a surprise. Still, environmental concerns
increasingly deserve and achieve attention. For instance, China ratified its 12th five-year plan on
5 March 2011, indicating amongst other things, its plan to reduce pollution, increase energy
efficiency, stability and cleanliness and also to continue construction of nuclear power plants.
2

While nuclear power doesnt directly contribute to CO2 released into the atmosphere, and
is therefore considered cleaner than coal-fired plants, several serious environmental
transgressions can be attributed to this energy source. These include radioactive tailings from
uranium mining, adverse effects of spent fuel on the surrounding environment, and of course any
damage caused by accidents. Infrequently discussed are the negative effects due to cooling
methods. This chapter explores the environmental ramifications of once-through cooling (OTC).
Environmental impacts associated with OTC remain one of the major impediments to
proper siting of nuclear power plants. Specifically, the impingement and entrainment of native
species in the suction pipes of OTC plants as well as the discharge of warm water into cooler
waters can cause tremendous impact on the surrounding habitat and biota. This chapter discusses
these environmental ramifications as they relate to China. The OTC process will be described;
ecological disturbances and potentially threatened species will be explained; Chinas ecological
regulation schemes will briefly be discussed; and finally, alternative cooling techniques will be
addressed.
1
Hart, Melanie. Reading Chinas Climate Change Tea Leaves, Climate Progress, Dec 9, 2011, accessed Dec 9,
2011. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/385436/china-climate-change-tea-leaves/
2
APCO. Chinas 12th Five-Year Plan: How it actually works and whats in store for the next five years, Dec 10,
2010, accessed Dec 9, 2011. http://www.apcoworldwide.com/content/pdfs/chinas_12th_five-year_plan.pdf
Once-Through Cooling and Ecological Disturbances
Once-through cooling refers to a wet cooling technique used to absorb and dissipate the
massive amount of heat produced by nuclear fission. More than 60% of the heat created by
nuclear reactors is surplus heat which must be removed.
3
Currently, all Chinese nuclear power
plants utilize OTC. Nuclear plants are often situated coastally or riverside in order to take
advantage of this relatively cheap method of cooling the fuel cells. Water is abstracted into the
reactor where it flows over the fuel cells to absorb their heat, and this warmed water is dumped
back into the same body of water. OTC systems are considered best availabe technique in
regards to best energy efficiency when dealing with large quantities of low level heat.
4
A generic
site discharge point might be found 15 meters from shore, at a depth of 5 meters below water
level, to diminish disturbance to sediment.
5

While cheap, OTC confers several environmental concerns: impingement, entrainment,
thermal and biocide pollution, changes in water flow, and turbidity. Because OTC relies on
water pumped through pipes from the natural environment, creatures living in the area may
accidentally be pulled into the pipes. To minimize clogged mechanics, pipes are affixed with
screens. Unfortunately, this is not a fail-safe precaution. Organisms that are larger than the
screen become impinged--sucked to the screen (such as fish or shrimp), and smaller organisms
(larvae, zooplankton, etc) become entrained--swept along with the flow of water, often sheared
by the high pressure. Both result in fish kills. Most entrained biota (90%) measure less than
200mm in length, as these are unable to swim away from abstraction pipes.
6

The water returned from the plant into the environment is approximately 13
o
C warmer
than the surrounding water, causing an unnatural temperature gradient, or thermal pollution
7
.
Many organisms cannot withstand this increased temperature, while others may flourish and thus
eliminate a normal ecology. Higher water temperatures often increase organisms metabolic
rates while oxygens dissolving capacity decreases (approximately 0.2mg/L reduction in oxygen
3
Liu, Rock. Closed-Cycle Cooling Technology for Nuclear Power Plants, Nuclear Power News, Dynabond, Nov
16, 2010, accessed Nov 23, 2011. http://www.dynabondpowertech.com/en/nuclear-power-news/topic-of-the-month/
30-topic-of-the-month/3445-closed-cycle-cooling-technology-for-nuclear-power-plants
4
Eisenstatt, L. R. Generic Assessment of the Impacts of Cooling Options for the Candidate Nuclear Power Plant
AP1000, 2010. https://www.ukap1000application.com/PDFDocs/Safety/UKP-GW-GL-034.pdf
5
6
7
solubility per 1
o
C increase in temperature) causing many marine organisms to suffocate.
89
If a
creature survives high temperature and lack of oxygen, it often succumbs to food shortage.
Secondary ecological considerations with OTC include biocide pollution and potential
increased flow rate and turbidity. If anti-scaling chemicals or antifoulants are used along the
course of the pipes in warm weather, these biocides may leach into the warmed water and cause
additional, chemical pollution leading to potential toxicity in invertebrates and risk of
bioaccumulation in their predators. Chlorine in the form of sodium hypochlorite is widely
used.
10
Frequent cleaning is one alternative to the usage of biocides. Monitoring systems and
attention to proper dosing should be employed to minimise discharge. Discharge of water as
well as thermal plume may contribute to increased water flow rate.
11
If discharge interferes with
sediment, turbidity may ensue.

Potentially Affected Species
Once-through cooling systems may directly or indirectly negatively affect common
populations of species such as mammals, fish, benthic communities (molluscs, copepods, corals,
polychaete worms, crustaceans, maerl), macroalgae, plankton, vascular plants (seagrass, marsh
plants), and amphibians.
12
Daya Bay Nuclear Power base, for instance, uses more than 25
million cubic meters of water per day to cool the turbines. Calculations in Appendix B estimate
that approximately 9.18 million fish and 15.3 billion fish larvae succumb to impingement and
entrainment at Daya Bay every year.
These cooling systems may also indirectly negatively affect threatened species
(International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, red-listed species), as they depend
on the smaller, common species in their diets. Improper siting of reactors in China along coasts
and waterways where these species thrive might negatively affect the diets or habitats of the
following red-listed species: Chinese sturgeon, Asian small-clawed otter, Stellers sea eagle, and
narrow-ridged finless porpoise. (See Figure 1, Table 1, and selection criteria in Appendix A).
Though the map in Figure 5 is from 2008, and is therefore not strictly current, one can see how
the habitat ranges of these species overlaps with many of the planned sites.
8
Mihursky, et al. Thermal Pollution, Aquaculture and Pathobiology in Aquatic Systems, Journal of Wildlife
Diseases Vol. 6, October 1970. Accessed Nov 23, 2011. http://www.jwildlifedis.org/content/6/4/347.full.pdf
9
10
11
12
Figure 1: Sites of Nuclear Power Plants and Ranges of Potentially Affected IUCN Red-Listed
Species in China
13
,
14
13
Ejam. Sites of Nuclear Power Plants in China, Research Institute of Tepia, modified Nov 2008, accessed Nov
23, 2011. http://www.buckinghampost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/EJAM1-3-GA6-Fig.
1small_Sites_of_Nuclear_Power_Plants_in_China.png
14
IUCN Red List. Accessed Nov 23, 2011. http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/red_list/
Table 1 : IUCN Red-Listed Species and Specific Considerations
15
IUCN Red-Listed
Species
Specic Considerations
Chinese Sturgeon
(Acipenser sinensis)
Critically endangered. These sturgeon may or may not exist in the Pearl and Yangtze
Rivers .
112
As anadromous fish, sturgeon spend their juvenile life in freshwater, and
their adult life at sea until returning to freshwater to spawn. These sturgeon feed on
zoobenthos and other bottom invertebrates, thus the food on which they depend in
addition to the fish itself could be affected by side effects of OTC. Eggs and
juvenile fish are more likely to be directly affected by inland, riparian nuclear power
plants, though reactors situated on the sea coast may also have an indirect negative
effect on adult sturgeon, assuming the food they eat are affected.
Asian Small-clawed
Otter (Aonyx
cinerea)
Vulnerable. Their habitat extends through Southern China.
112
Their diet mainly
consists of crabs; thus these otters, in the vicinity of a nuclear reactor, could be
negatively affected if a decrease in crabs occured due to OTC impingement,
entrainment, and temperature changes.
Stellers Sea Eagle
(Haliaeetus
pelagicus)
Vulnerable. Their habitat includes a portion of Northeast China.
112
These eagles
breed on sea coasts and inland near rivers or lakes. In autumn, they forage along
rivers where dead salmon are abundant. If a reactor exists in these regions, the sea
eagles forage fish might decline, further threatening the birds existence.
Narrow-ridged
Finless Porpoise
(Neophocaena
asiaeorientalis)
Vulnerable.
112
They can be found in a narrow strip of water from the Taiwan
Straight to Northern China, including the Yangtze River, and other rivers. These
porpoises prefer waters with sandy or soft bottoms which means they likely do not
inhabit the same places where nuclear power plants are cited, as plants are most
often sited on bedrock.
113
However, these porpoises could be futher threatened if
their diet--small fishes, cephalopods and crustraceans--were negatively affected by
OTC reactors nearby their habitat.
Chinas Ecological Regulation Scheme Unclear
Chinas current legal framework was difficult to ascertain. Therefore, this is not a full
examination of their ecological regulation scheme, but a summary of what information could be
found.
Chinas State Council passed the Medium- and Long-term Nuclear Power Development Plan
(2005-2020) on March 22, 2006,
16
which calls for future siting as well as environmental impact
assessments (EIAs) on all planned nuclear power plants. In addtion to calculations regarding the
doses of radioactivity that would be endured by normal operation of the plant, EIAs examine
emergency management of nearby populations. It is unclear whether ecological impacts beyond
radioactivity are considered.
15
IUCN Red List. Accessed Nov 23, 2011. http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/red_list/
16
Liyong, et al. "The subject deserving wide attention for nuclear power plant siting and environmental impact
assessment." China Nuclear Power (No. 3 - 2009), modified November 10, 2009, accessed November 23, 2011.
http://www.dynabondpowertech.com/en/nuclear-power-news/scientific-articles/116-china/2422-nuclear-power-
plant-siting-and-environmental-impact-assessment.
In broader environmental legislation terms, clause 36 in Chapter IV of the P.R. China
Ocean Environmental Protection Act stipulates that effective measures shall be used to ensure
the temperature of discharged water complies with the national standard of the marine
environment.
17
What, exactly, the national standard indicator is remains unclear.
Whether or how well these regulations are enforced, funded or staffed, or if they are
sufficient is not clear. Liu suggests that future inland nuclear power plants will utilize closed-
cycle cooling systems rather than OTC. Inland plant plans are currently delayed due to concerns
about polluting rivers.
18
However, it is not clear whether this is due to conducting EIAs or to
some other concern.
Alternatives
Californias State Water Resources Control Board has issued the Policy on the Use of
Coastal and Estuarine Waters for Power Plant Cooling which require plants to stop OTC and
install alternative cooling systems to reduce the impact on aquatic organisms.
19
While no such
ban exists in China, mitigation strategies as well as alternative technologies can help reduce the
environmental impact of OTC.
Alternative uses for waste heat could be one way to minimize thermal pollution, but
given the low-grade heat of discharge water, utilizing heat customers may not be a reasonable
option. Modern plants are able to return some organisms to sea with the discharge water or via a
dedicated return pipe, though delicate species have low survival rates.
20
Some plants use
acoustic fish deterrant systems to dissuade animals from swimming too near the abstraction pipe.
This only works for animals with hearing sensitivity, and causes auditory pollution.
Two alternative cooling systems exist: substratum intake systems and closed-cycle
cooling systems. The former is still in the conception phase but would filter water from the sand
bed below the body of water rather than taking it directly from the body of water itself, in an
attempt to mitigate entrainment and impingement.
21
The latter, whether wet or dry, through a
series of heat transfers, conveys the waste heat from turbines to the atmosphere via convection
and evaporation. Wasted water can be as little as 5% what would have been discharged with
17
18
WNA. Nuclear Power in China, World Nuclear Association, modified Nov 30, 2011, accessed Dec 9, 2011.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63.html
19
30-topic-of-the-month/3445-closed-cycle-cooling-technology-for-nuclear-power-plants.
20
21
Stoecker, Roy. Substratum Intake System: An Innovative Water Intake System for Power Generation Facilities,
Environmental Consulting Insights, accessed Dec 11, 2011. http://www.eeaconsultants.com/news/spring2004/
OTC systems, and environmental impacts are correspondingly reduced.
22
Closed-cycle systems
depend on proper siting regarding wind pressure and temperature.
New designs for OTC reactors, like the AP1000 promise a significantly smaller
environmental impact due to reduced flow of water utilized (See Appendix B for specific
calculations and comparison to Daya Bay).
Conclusions and Recommendations
All of Chinas current nuclear power plants utilize OTC. Environmental risks due to
entrainment, impingement, biocide and thermal pollution, and changes in water flow exist not
only for common species, but potentially for threatened species. China appears to have some
Environmental Impact Assessment regulation in place, but it is unclear whether this, or other
environmental legislation is well staffed, funded, or enforced. Depending on the technologies
chosen, China will have to deal with the risk of damaging local ecosystems as they plan and site
future plants. With increasing magnitude of expansion, a one-to-one ratio of negative effects
exist, assuming similar technology is used. The pace of expansion does not correlate well with
environmental impact, however the ability to invent or implement new problem-mitigating
technologies decreases the faster expansion occurs. Finally, siting plants in areas where they are
least likely to affect threatened species, as well as choosing technologies that use less water for
cooling, or that minimize entrainment and impingement are vital to minimizing Chinas
Eisenstatt, L. R. Generic Assessment of the Impacts of Cooling Options for the Candidate
Nuclear Power Plant AP1000, 2010. https://www.ukap1000application.com/PDFDocs/Safety/
UKP-GW-GL-034.pdfenvironmental impact due to nuclear expansion. Regulatory oversight,
implementation, and enforcement to support these types of decisions is necessary, but the reality
of these aspects existence are unclear.
22
30-topic-of-the-month/3445-closed-cycle-cooling-technology-for-nuclear-power-plants.
Appendix A: IUCN Red List Search criteria:
Show taxa: Species
Search by location:
East Asia
Indian Ocean eastern
North Asia
Pacific northwest
Pacific southwest,
Pacific western central
Search by systems:
Freshwater
Marine
Terrestrial
Match any threat:
3.3. Renewable energy
7.2.2. Abstraction of surface water (commercial use)
7.2.6. Abstraction of ground water (commercial use)
7.3. Other ecosystem modifications
9.6.2. Thermal pollution
9.6.4. Type Unknown/Unrecorded
Search by assessment:
Categories: EX, EW, CR, EN, VU, DD
Appendix B: Rough Calculations
KNOWN
Daya Bay= 25 million m
3
water/day
23
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)= 2587 million gallons water/day * m
3
/264.17
gallons= 9.8 million m
3
water/day
24
3.6 million fish killed by SONGS in 2003
6 billion fish larvae killed/year at SONGS
Future possible plants:
AP1000 will be cooled by a flow of 3.27 million m
3
water/day
25
******
CALCULATIONS
To get a general sense of the scale of impact, assume 1:1 ratio of biota killed to volume of water
utilized.
Daya Bay AP1000
Daya Bay : SONGS
25 : 9.8
2.55 : 1
AP1000 : SONGS
3.27 : 9.8
0.334 : 1
3.6 million fish killed/year at SONGS * 2.55
Daya Bay/SONGS = 9.18 million fish killed
by Daya Bay/year
3.6 million fish killed/year at SONGS * 0.334
AP1000/SONGS = 1.2 million fish killed by
AP1000/year
6 billion fish larvae killed/year at SONGS *
2.55 Daya Bay/SONGS = 15.3 billion fish
larvae killed by Daya Bay/year
6 billion fish larvae killed/year at SONGS *
0.334 AP1000/SONGS = 2 billion fish
larvae killed by AP1000/year
23
24
25

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