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Good news. Although I am wary of nuclear's sustainability due to usage of fresh water (another limited resource in our climate crisis days)... I mean look at F

by r00fus 4y ago

Good news. Although I am wary of nuclear's sustainability due to usage of fresh water (another limited resource in our climate crisis days)... I mean look at France nuclear + dry rivers... I think Nuclear should be part of our basket of energy sources (as it's baseload) to combat climate change.

refurb 4y ago
There is no requirement that reactors use fresh water. And there is nothing that says fresh water can't be used after being used to cool a nuclear reactor. It's not like the fresh water is consumed.
- r00fus 4y ago
  Waste heat in the water is the problem.
panick21_ 4y ago
Most advanced nuclear would have been air cooled but after 50 years of nuclear stagnation we are sadly still haven't managed to get there. The solution is to finally evolve the technology.
nyokodo 4y ago
> I am wary of nuclear's sustainability due to usage of fresh water I feel like there should be ways to engineer around this especially for reactors near the coast. Use some of the power from the plant to desalinate sea water or engineer to use sea water?
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  Seabrook nuclear power station in New Hampshire (where I grew up) is cooled by ocean water and has no cooling towers https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6367683 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6367683 I seem to recall Jackie Srouji (a navy intelligence agent who got busted when she talked big to a reporter after Karen Silkwood died under mysterious circumstances) also got busted by Navy Seals when she went for a swim to check out the water intakes for the San Onofre power station near San Diego.
8jy89hui 4y ago
> The plant's once-through cooling system (OTC) draws water from the Pacific Ocean to condense steam driving its turbines [0] Wikipedia seems to say that Diablo canyon is cooled by salt water, not fresh water. The Wikipedia page also outlines how they attempt to protect marine wildlife in the region. Do most nuclear power plants require fresh water? Is it a big problem? [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant
- r00fus 4y ago
  The problem with nuclear's use of water is that the water released is heated and causes problems with the ecosystem (ie, waste heat). In fact, Diablo runs at a lower power to prevent dumping too much waste heat back into the ocean ecosystem. From the wikipedia page: " and power is limited during operation so that water returned to the ocean is no more than 20 °F (11 °C) warmer than ambient temperature. "

by r00fus 4y ago

refurb 4y ago

There is no requirement that reactors use fresh water. And there is nothing that says fresh water can't be used after being used to cool a nuclear reactor. It's not like the fresh water is consumed.

r00fus 4y ago
Waste heat in the water is the problem.

panick21_ 4y ago

Most advanced nuclear would have been air cooled but after 50 years of nuclear stagnation we are sadly still haven't managed to get there. The solution is to finally evolve the technology.

nyokodo 4y ago

> I am wary of nuclear's sustainability due to usage of fresh water I feel like there should be ways to engineer around this especially for reactors near the coast. Use some of the power from the plant to desalinate sea water or engineer to use sea water?

PaulHoule 4y ago
Seabrook nuclear power station in New Hampshire (where I grew up) is cooled by ocean water and has no cooling towers https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6367683 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6367683 I seem to recall Jackie Srouji (a navy intelligence agent who got busted when she talked big to a reporter after Karen Silkwood died under mysterious circumstances) also got busted by Navy Seals when she went for a swim to check out the water intakes for the San Onofre power station near San Diego.

8jy89hui 4y ago

> The plant's once-through cooling system (OTC) draws water from the Pacific Ocean to condense steam driving its turbines [0] Wikipedia seems to say that Diablo canyon is cooled by salt water, not fresh water. The Wikipedia page also outlines how they attempt to protect marine wildlife in the region. Do most nuclear power plants require fresh water? Is it a big problem? [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant

r00fus 4y ago
The problem with nuclear's use of water is that the water released is heated and causes problems with the ecosystem (ie, waste heat). In fact, Diablo runs at a lower power to prevent dumping too much waste heat back into the ocean ecosystem. From the wikipedia page: " and power is limited during operation so that water returned to the ocean is no more than 20 °F (11 °C) warmer than ambient temperature. "