(Nuclear)Plant helps Louisa bloom

Nuclear reactor, Lake Anna keep county growing, playing

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-08-20-0145.html

Okay this is our local rag newspaper. Horrific reporting and even more horrific op/ed page. Check out the picture that accompanies this headline and then, if you will, read the story--it has almost nothing to do with "boom" ing or play it mainly deals with concerned citizens fully involved in overseeing the nuclear plant and its effect on the man-made Lake (for the nuke plant) and evironmental concerns. I can't tell if they are just trying to tell people to be obedient to their propert value or if the headline writer didn't read the article


Thirty years ago, peaceful, agricultural Louisa County went nuclear.

More than 2,600 homes have sprouted for vacation and permanent residency on or near Lake Anna since Dominion Virginia Power turned on its first reactor at North Anna Power Station.

The power plant and the new homes generate almost one-fifth of Louisa's $106 million annual tax revenue. The plant has generated 186 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power the entire United States for two weeks.

okay here we go

One of the results of the vested residential presence on both sides of the lake has been a grass-roots movement criticizing Dominion's stewardship of the lake in the past 10 years and the company's plans to build a third reactor.

Many residents are retirees who have small fortunes invested in property they bought with the understanding that they'd have recreational access to the 3,400 acres of lagoons built to bring down temperatures of the water used to cool North Anna's reactors.

The water never comes in contact with radioactive material, but the discharge heats up part of the lake to more than 100 degrees in the summertime.

The three lagoons, which make up most of what is called the "private" or "hot" side of the lake, are dammed off from the main part of the lake.

The "public" or "cold" side of the lake provides cool water for the power plant and has a state park, marinas and boat launches.

But not all local relations have been good. Lake resident Harry Ruth leads a group of property owners and civic associations who object to Dominion's management of the lagoons used to cool water that's been in contact with reactor pipes.

The group is not opposed to Dominion, nuclear power, or even additional reactors. They fear the company isn't doing all it should to keep the lagoon water safe for people.

Because the primary purpose of the lagoons is to cool Dominion's reactors, state environmental regulators classify it as a waste-treatment facility, similar to a sewage pond. In the lagoons' case, the only waste is heat.