The influence of plasma effects on three-body recombination of bare ions wi
th electrons in cold plasma in the electron cooler is discussed in context
of recombination "enhancement" observed in storage ring experiments. We sho
w that for high-Z bare ions and low electron temperatures and densities the
cooler plasma becomes "nonideal" leading to the enhancement of the three-b
ody recombination rates. This effect is described in terms of the Debye scr
eening length within the "rigid shift" approximation. We demonstrate, that
in cold (T approximate to 1-10 K) anisotropic plasma the screening effect s
ubstantially enhances the three-body recombination rates for very high n-st
ates. The relaxation of high Rydberg states below the field ionization cut-
off, set in storage ring experiments, is discussed. The calculations are co
nfronted with the experimental results obtained in storage ring experiments
.