Wetland restoration and compliance issues on the Savannah River site

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5800199

Wein, G R; McLeod, K W; Sharitz, R R ^[1]

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1. Savannah River Ecology Lab., Aiken, SC (United States)

Operation of the nuclear production reactors on the Savannah River Site has faced potential conflicts with wetland regulations on several occasions. This paper provides two examples in which regulatory compliance and restoration research have been meshed, providing both compliance and better knowledge to aid future regulatory needs. The decision to restart the L reactor required the mitigation of thermal effluents under Sec. 316 of the Clean Water Act. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, permit for the selected mitigation alternative, a 405-ha once-through cooling reservoir, required the establishment of a balanced biological community (BBC) within the lake. To promote the development of a BBC, the reservoir was seeded with water from an existing BBC (Par Pond) and stocked with fish and had artificial reefs constructed. The US Department of Energy (DOE) also requested that the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory establish littoral/wetland vegetation along the shoreline to provide aquatic and wildlife habitat, shoreline stabilization, and a good faith effort toward the establishment of a BBC. The development of wetland vegetation was deemed important to the successful development of a BBC within L Lake. However, in a similar cooling reservoir system constructed in 1957 (Par Pond), wetland vegetation successfully developed without any planting effort. Other than the good faith effort toward a BBC, there is no reason to assume a littoral/wetland community would not develop of its own accord. However, research conducted at L Lake indicates that the planting of wetland vegetation at L Lake accelerated the process of natural selection over that of areas that were not planted.

• OSTI ID: 5800199
• Report Number(s): CONF-930601--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 68
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220503* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Environmental Aspects-- Chemical & Thermal Effluents
220600 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540340 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Thermal Effluents Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIOLOGICAL RECOVERY
COMPLIANCE
ECOSYSTEMS
HEAVY WATER MODERATED REACTORS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
L REACTOR
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OPERATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
PRODUCTION REACTORS
REACTOR OPERATION
REACTOR START-UP
REACTORS
REGULATIONS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SPECIAL PRODUCTION REACTORS
START-UP
THERMAL EFFLUENTS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER
WETLANDS