Waste water? Zero.
Basically the plant has three water loops, which exchange heat, but none of them interact(mix) with one another.
Loop A is the nasty one. Very hot and at a high pressure. 450 degrees C, 4.5 MPA. Stays liquid all the time. This is heavy water or D2O. It's not radioactive by nature, but ends up radioactive by touching the fuel rods all the time. This is a closed loop system water never changes state, or leaves the loop.
Loop B is the steamy one. Interacts with A in boilers, gets heated to becomes steam and goes through the turbine to make power. Not radioactive, although still pretty nasty as it has a lot of chemicals to prevent pipe corrosion. Just regular water though. Never leaves the loop.
Loop C is seawater. Fresh and cold out of the ocean, gets pumps through through heat exchangers to condense loop B. The two never actually touch. All of loop C gets pumped back into the ocean. About 2 degrees warmer, but other than that it's the exact same.
That sounds awesome. So once they’re filled they don’t need anymore water for A and B, and C is just heat sink unaltered. Thanks for the in depth explanation!
I had this misconception from something I read about freshwater use in nuclear plants in France, but I just looked it up and it says they return 98% of all water used to the source. Nuclear energy? Yes, please!
The only reasonable argument I've heard against nuclear is about water waste for cooling. How much water does it require?
Waste water? Zero. Basically the plant has three water loops, which exchange heat, but none of them interact(mix) with one another. Loop A is the nasty one. Very hot and at a high pressure. 450 degrees C, 4.5 MPA. Stays liquid all the time. This is heavy water or D2O. It's not radioactive by nature, but ends up radioactive by touching the fuel rods all the time. This is a closed loop system water never changes state, or leaves the loop. Loop B is the steamy one. Interacts with A in boilers, gets heated to becomes steam and goes through the turbine to make power. Not radioactive, although still pretty nasty as it has a lot of chemicals to prevent pipe corrosion. Just regular water though. Never leaves the loop. Loop C is seawater. Fresh and cold out of the ocean, gets pumps through through heat exchangers to condense loop B. The two never actually touch. All of loop C gets pumped back into the ocean. About 2 degrees warmer, but other than that it's the exact same.
No water waste at all.
That sounds awesome. So once they’re filled they don’t need anymore water for A and B, and C is just heat sink unaltered. Thanks for the in depth explanation!
I had this misconception from something I read about freshwater use in nuclear plants in France, but I just looked it up and it says they return 98% of all water used to the source. Nuclear energy? Yes, please!