Characterization of chlorination by-products in cooling effluents of coastal nuclear power stations

In power stations, the cooling effluents are chlorinated to avoid excessive biofouling. Yet, this disinfecting treatment leads to the formation of hal ogenated by-products. In spite of possible toxicity of such compounds towar ds aquatic organisms, there is an evident lack of information on the format ion of halogenated compounds in chlorinated seawater samples. So, this stud y was undertaken to identify and quantify halogenated compounds (i.e. triha lomethanes, haloacetonitriles, halophenols and haloacetic acids) in effluen ts from three French nuclear power stations. In addition, experiments condu cted in the laboratory allowed the determination of the kinetics of formati on of the main compounds detected: bromoform, dihaloacetonitrile, 2,4,6-tri bromophenol and dibromoacetic acid. Good agreement was obtained between the experiments conducted either on site or in the laboratory. In particular, evidence was given on the formation of brominated compounds (due to the hig h concentrations of bromide ions in seawater). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Lt d. All rights reserved.