IV-541 



use of the available cooling water. 



There are, however, 47 nuclear power plants built or scheduled for 

 completion by 1976. All of these are in the megawatt range, with 

 a combined capacity of nearly 35,000 megawatts of electrical power. 

 While the bulk of these will be in the cooler parts of the Nation, 

 12 will be in the South Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Regions where 

 water temperatures are high, greater volumes must be used to 

 achieve proper cooling, and the increase in water temperature 

 through the power plant may be sufficient to cause environmental 

 damage. 



WASTE DISPOSAL 



The concentration of population and industrial development in the 

 estuarine zone has led naturally to the use of estuarine waters 

 for removal of the waste materials of man's civilization from his 

 immediate vicinity. It is unlikely that cities were built on the 

 coastline with any conscious consideration of the use of the 

 estuarine environment for waste disposal, yet it has happened that 

 this use has become one of the major uses of estuarine waters and 

 the associated land. Virtually all of the cities and industries 

 in the coastal counties dispose of wastes either directly or 

 indirectly into the estuarine zone. 



Liquid waste discharges to estuarine systems include domestic 

 waste products, industrial waste materials of all degrees of 



