Happy in Their Haven Beside the Nuclear Plant
Discharge Creates a Sort of Hot Springs in Lake

By Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

MINERAL, Va. -- As fisherman Roger A. Hanna Sr. sped across Lake Anna one morning this month, the air temperature hovered barely above freezing. But his digital water gauge registered a balmy 72 degrees.

On the Louisa County shoreline, the North Anna nuclear power plant draws on the man-made lake for coolant to condense steam inside the plant. The water, heated during the cycle, discharges into three lagoons and then returns to the lake, creating a hot springs of sorts here in central Virginia.

The result is a 13,000-acre reservoir with two parts: a cold one fed from the west by the North Anna River and a smaller, hot one near two reactors Dominion Generation uses to produce electricity via uranium fission. For those in the know, the hot part offers an extended resort season. Even as leaves were changing and homeowners were cutting firewood for the winter on a chilly Saturday, boaters, swimmers, jet skiers and water boarders in wetsuits took to the lake.

"Stick your hand in the water," Hanna said as his speedboat passed over schools of fish. Largemouth bass reproduce in larger numbers in the hot part, an attraction to year-round fishermen. Their habitat felt like bath water to the touch.

It is common to find boaters on the water through November. Some celebrate at Christmastime on the lake.

Authorities and locals stress that the lake, which straddles the Spotsylvania-Louisa county border, is perfectly safe.

"It's so regulated by everyone and anybody," said Irene Luck, who lives near the power plant and is a reporter for the Central Virginian, a weekly newspaper.

Of the 65 nuclear power plants in the United States, 42 use water from a river, lake or ocean to help cool energy production systems, said Scott Burnell, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"The water never comes in contact with the reactor," Burnell said. "There's a lot of separation between the reactor and the lake water. I'm not aware of any incidents or concerns of radioactive contamination at Lake Anna."

The only nuclear power facility in Maryland is the Calvert Cliffs plant in Calvert County, which draws on the Chesapeake Bay, according to the NRC. The other nuclear plant in Virginia, Dominion's Surry power station, draws on the James River near Hampton Roads.

Toni Yates, a real estate agent in the Lake Anna area, said the nuclear plant's proximity has not hurt sales of vacation homes or full-time residences. The plant's two low-profile domes are tucked away from view of lakefront houses and are visible mainly from the water.

Yates said prices for houses on shallow water and with limited lake views start at about $450,000. Houses on prime lakefront property can fetch $600,000 to $800,000. Luxury homes cost more.

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."