Drought Could Force Nuke-Plant Shutdowns

[flashl]

Source: Washington Post

LAKE NORMAN, N.C. -- Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate.

Utility officials say such shutdowns probably wouldn't result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region's utilities may be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies.

Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the summer.

"Water is the nuclear industry's Achilles' heel," said Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, an environmental group critical of nuclear power. "You need a lot of water to operate nuclear plants." He added: "This is becoming a crisis."

Washington Post

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012301874.html

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This may just squelch efforts to roll out more plans for nuclear energy funding and spending.

And, that engineer pushing the button at a remote console to distribute electricity to southerners must be highly paid.

[lapfog_1]

1. nukes need water... and lots of it

yeah, there are designs that don't... but the ones that we have the most experience with are all water cooled. And cooling the water without losses to the air is something that would be expensive (think of the size of that radiator!!!). But possible.

[thunder rising]

2. If you recall, the heat waves shut them down last year.

[zalinda]

3. And that's why building more nuclear plants

is a bad idea. Doesn't make sense to build something that uses a precious element, like water, when the sun and wind could be used. Contrary to popular belief we still do have lots of open space still left in this country.

zalinda

[winter999]

4. If you haven't checked your globe lately,

there's a lot more water than land. I agree that solar and wind (and tide and hydroelectric) or any power producing tech that leaves 0 carbon footprint is the future, but nuclear must be part of the equation, too.

[amandabeech]

8. Yes, and certain parts of the country, which receive less sun,

have more water. At least now, before the thirsty states demand to be watered.

[dbackjon]

9. Or they could just do what the Palo Verde Nuclear Plant in Arizona does

Use recycled waste water. A good portion of the treated wasted water from Phoenix/Glendale/Tempe is piped to Palo Verde for use in the cooling towers. One problem solved.

[zalinda]

14. Yes, but treated waste water could be used

for farming, yes? Can water from a nuclear plant be reclaimed?

zalinda

[dbackjon]

15. The water is generally recycled, in system

A certain amount is released in the cooling towers as steam.

Waste water is used to irrigate non-food commodities (including lawns, golf courses, etc)

[NutmegYankee]

16. Reclaimed?

The water is used in separate cooling loops, and does not contact radioactivity. It just collects heat in heat exchangers, and is discharged.

[One_Life_To_Give]

5. Also Coal, Oil and Gas Power Plants

Or essentially all the major power generating facilities in the US need lots of water to operate. You want a 1000MW plant it will require X amount of water no mater if it's Oil, Coal, Gas or Nuke powered.

[Ian David]

6. The voters in those states don't believe in global warming anyway. And besides...

Ann Coulter says there can't possibly be a shortage of something that literally falls from the sky.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, flashl.

[Massacure]

10. Coal power plants also require water to cool.

Coal and Nuclear power plants only differ in how they generate heat. Once that heat is generated they both do the same thing, using that heat to generate steam and putting that steam through a turbine. Only about 1/3 of the heat is turned into electricity though, the rest is rejected as waste heat. The more electricity a plant generates, the more heat it rejects, and the more water it takes to cool.

[TheWraith]

11. Gas and oil too.

All major forms of energy production produce waste heat.

[depakid]

13. They sure do.

Look familiar?

Not a nuke- that's Bayswater power station, New South Wales.

Bayswater Power Station began operations in the mid-1980s. It has 4 x 660 megawatt units, providing a total generating capacity of 2,640MW. Black coal from nearby open-cut mines is used at Bayswater in the generation of electricity. Water from the Hunter River is pumped to the power station for cooling purposes.

http://www1.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/hneph/EHM/Bayswater.htm

[truthisfreedom]

12. Wind and Solar only need... wind and sun.

We should have built up our renewable infrastructure decades ago.