Happy in Their Haven Beside the Nuclear Plant

Ike Scovitch of Laurel and Tom Acre of Ellicot City fish in Lake Anna's warm section, a good place for bass. The North Anna nuclear plant is in the background. (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

Yates said residents and vacationers, many from Northern Virginia, do not worry about a nuclear disaster. "If we go, you all go up there, too," she said with a laugh, referring to the Washington area, about 90 miles away.

While the lake is a popular recreation destination, the only lakeside motel is at the High Point Marina on the cold water. There are few full-service restaurants in the area, no medical facilities, no shopping malls, no supermarkets and no national fast-food chains. Convenience stores and carry-out counters at marinas are the most popular eateries. It's a much slower pace than the Delaware or Maryland beaches.

The Lakeview Restaurant, a landmark at Hunter's Landing in Mineral, serves all-you-can-eat shrimp every night. On an average Saturday night during peak summer months, Lakeview serves between 800 and 1,000 customers, many of whom dock there, said John McSwain, who has owned the restaurant with his wife, Linda, for six years. In the winter, the numbers drop to about 100 to 150, mostly locals, he said.

Lakeview sits on the cold water. No commercial establishments are allowed on the hot-water shore, making it more of a private vacation community. No marinas, no stores, no restaurants.

"I love the remoteness," said McSwain, who moved to Lake Anna from Herndon 10 years ago.

The nuclear plant, which began operating in June 1978 after the North Anna was dammed, provides 17 percent of Virginia's electricity and employs 900 full-time workers, according to Dominion. Tentative plans are underway for a third reactor, which could bring an additional 750 jobs.

But it's not the power plant jobs that make the lake stand out. It's the extra degrees Fahrenheit.

The water temperature at the end of the power plant's discharge canal in December 2006 was 77 degrees, according to Dominion. The discharge reached 100.9 degrees in August 2006, typical for that time of year, said Richard Zuercher, a Dominion spokesman. (The lake, of course, cools the discharge.)

Temperatures are much lower at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. In December 2006, water there was 38 degrees, and in August 2006, it was 72 degrees, said Deep Creek Times editor Marta Schroyer, who uses her own water thermometer.

Those who live around Lake Anna take advantage of the warm water. Luck keeps her inboard motorboat handy in winter so she and her family can use it whenever they like.

Barbara Kempf, a retired teacher who moved to Lake Anna from Pennsylvania in 2004, said she and her family took their pontoon onto the lake last Christmas. Dry weather has lowered lake levels this year, so the heavy pontoon has remained docked for the past two months. But Kempf said she still kayaks occasionally or just dives in.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful," she said. "I love our crystal-clear waters. Every other weekend we take baths in the lake. We never come out smelling fishy."