House Democrats Blame Global Warming For Millstone Shut Down

House of Representative members Henry Waxman of California and Bobby Rush of Illinois, both Democrats, are calling for Congressional hearings after learning that  because the water needed to cool the reactor was too hot.

Millstone’s Unit 2 reactor was shut down this August after the water in Long Island Sound was above 75 degrees, the warmest ever recorded since Millstone’s existence, according to Millstone spokesman Ken Holt. The water from Long Island Sound is used to cool the plant, and when it gets above 75 degrees the Nuclear Regulatory Commission deems it too warm too properly cool the reactor. This was the first time the Unit 2 reactor was ever shut down because the water in Long Island Sound was too warm.

Waxman and Rush, after reading a story in the Washington Post about Millstone’s shut down and other related events (), wrote a letter to the House's Committee on Energy and Commerce asking for Congressional hearings on the issue.

“The impacts of climate change on our nation's power plants are real and are happening now,” the letter reads. “They are imposing costs and logistical challenges today. We respectfully ask you to schedule a hearing on this issue as soon as possible so that the members of the Committee can hear from experts about these impacts.”