SREL Reprint #0419
Ecology
of Artificially Heated Streams, Swamps and Reservoirs on the Savannah River
Plant
The
Thermal Studies Program of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
J.
W. Gibbons, R. R. Sharitz, F. G. Howell, and M. H. Smith
Abstract
Ecology of Artificially Heated Streams, Swamps and
Reservoirs on the Savannah River Plant: The
Thermal Studies Program of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.
The United States’ operable nuclear production
reactors are located on the Atomic Energy Commission’s Savannah River Plant (SRP)
in South Carolina. As none of the
heat energy is used in power production, the heated effluents have been released
into the environment at higher temperatures than those from power reactors since
1953. Since cooling towers are not
in use, the high-temperature effluents are discharged directly into the aquatic
ecosystems. This creates a variety
of thermal habitats with temperatures ranging from normal for the area to above
50°C.
Continued operation of these reactors has resulted in a unique outdoor
laboratory for thermal studies. Post-thermal
stream, swamp and lake habitats, created by the temporary shutdown of two
reactors, has provided the rare opportunity to examine the long-lasting effects
of thermal loading once heated effluent is removed.
Natural aquatic areas serve as control environments for the thermal field
studies. The environmental effects
of SRP thermal effluents are not confounded by synergies with chemical inputs as
releases of industrial and domestic wastes into these thermal ecosystems on the
SRP are minimal. The SREL Thermal
Studies Program has been approached in a manner to utilize best the field
potentials of the SRP. Studies have
been undertaken in a variety of thermal habitats (both aquatic and terrestrial)
and at all levels of biological organization from the individual to the
community in order to extend understanding of ecosystem responses to thermal
alteration.
SREL Reprint #0419
Gibbons, J.W., R.R. Sharitz, F.G. Howell, and M.H.
Smith. 1975. Ecology of artificially heated streams, swamps and
reservoirs on the Savannah River Plant. In Environmental
Effects of Cooling Systems at Nuclear Power Plants, p. 389-400. Vol. SM 187/13. International Atomic Energy Agency.
Vienna, Austria.
