nuclear-news

COLD water is a critical factor for nuclear reactors

Extreme Heat, Drought Show Vulnerability of Nuclear Power Plants
 By Robert Krier, InsideClimate News, 15 Aug 12,”……Why the Water Matters Drought and heat affect the water needed to cool nuclear plants in three main ways.

Most plants are built along lakes or rivers because of the ready supply of water to cool the plant. But if water levels drop below the plants’ intake pipes, they can’t suck in the water. In some cases, the pipes can be lowered, but that is often expensive and also risks pulling in sediment that could damage the plant.

Lake or river water can also be unusable if it’s too warm to cool the plant. Other times, the warm water can be used, but the plants operate far more efficiently with cooler water. The third problem that crops up in heat waves is with the outflow from the plant. If the water body is already warm because of low levels or hot days, the outflow could raise the downstream temperature above accepted levels. That has happened repeatedly in the U.S. and in Europe. If a plant isn’t shut down in those situations, the hot discharge can cause algae blooms, reduce dissolved oxygen in the water and threaten aquatic life.

“From our perspective, this has been a problem for years, and it’s only getting worse,” said Wendy Wilson, director of rivers, energy and climate for the River Network, which aims to protect the nation’s freshwater resources. “It gets worse every time we have a drought like this.

“We have terrible thermal pollution problems in this country, and the result is dead and dying rivers. Nobody’s managing the system. We’re all just praying for rain.”…. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120815/nuclear-power-plants-energy-nrc-drought-weather-heat-water?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20solveclimate/blog%20(InsideClimate%20News)

August 16, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, water