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> 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 Diabl
by 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 agoThe 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. "