Chlorination and dechlorination of nuclear reactor cooling water

Effects from chlorination and dechlorination of Savannah River water were studied during the development of biofouling countermeasures for a proposed cooling tower system required for thermal mitigation of nuclear reactor cooling water effluent. Testing was conducted to assess chlorine demand and dissipation rates as well as the environmental acceptability of using sodium sulfite as a dechlorinating agent. Chlorine demand varied significantly, but in an unpredictable manner during seven seasonal sampling dates. A chlorine dosage of 3–5 mg/l was generally adequate to provide a free chlorine residual of 1 mg/l. Static 48-h bioassays with bluegill showed no acute toxicity for chlorinated/dechlorinated cooling water containing up to 64 times the calculated stoichiometric concentration of sodium sulfite required for dechlorination. Experiments measuring the depletion of dissolved oxygen and flow-through (96-h) bioassays with bluegill and largemouth bass further substantiated the environmental acceptability of using sodium sulfite as a dechlorinating agent.