It remains nonsensical that the government should entertain forcing Millstone Power Station - 45 years after it first began generating nuclear power and having met all regulatory requirements in obtaining its licenses - to undergo a massive retrofitting to alter the cooling of the reactors.

Yet the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has begun its review of that very possibility.

At issue is a provision of the U.S. Clean Water Act that requires power plants to use "best available technology" to minimize the environmental impact on waterways. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is leaving the decision on how to apply the federal rule to state regulators.

Granted, the best available means to limit the impact on the marine environment is not using seawater for cooling. And the most environmentally friendly way to propel cars would be Fred Flintstone-style, but it is not practical.

The nuclear plant unnaturally warms the waters of Niantic Bay and Long Island Sound, taking in massive amounts of water - 1.3 million gallons per minute - to cool the two reactors and returning it at higher temperature. Though the plant uses mesh screens to block fish and adjusts intake during flounder spawning season, it is unavoidable that there will be some damage to marinelife.

However, this late into the operational life of the nuclear plant, it is not a reasonable solution to order a massive retrofitting, either through the construction of iconic cooling towers or smaller, more expensive mechanical cooling mechanisms.

Millstone owner Dominion has placed the cost of such a retrofit at $2.6 billion. Reduced power output would mean the loss of $17 million in annual revenues. Dominion either passes along that cost through higher electric rates or decides to close Millstone station, eliminating high-skilled, well-paying jobs. Waterford would lose its major taxpayer.

Ending operation of a power source that does not produce greenhouse gases is not environmentally friendly.

Cooling towers would present their own problems, including sight pollution. Steam emitted by the towers, mixed with the normally moist coastal environment, could provide for a murky existence around the plants.

The best option is for DEEP to force Dominion to take all reasonable steps to reduce the adverse impacts of the water cooling process, perhaps including further technological improvements. It should reject, however, the unreasonable demand for a conversion to cooling towers.