tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post3168767852336509121..comments2024-03-07T02:00:01.582-05:00Comments on NEI Nuclear Notes: Nuclear Energy, Increased Temperatures and the Truth About the Steam CycleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-34443193633731761772007-05-25T12:44:00.000-04:002007-05-25T12:44:00.000-04:00Please tell me that the heat emitted from nuclear ...Please tell me that the heat emitted from nuclear plants, through the cooling process does not add to the heating of our planet. There must be some way you all can rationalize that away, too.kconradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03128798805253298008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-41886941993066788802007-05-25T00:26:00.000-04:002007-05-25T00:26:00.000-04:00The issue with the French plants is that they use ...The issue with the French plants is that they use direct cooling with river water. The simple solution to this problem is to use a cooling tower, then there is no limitation from temperature increases to local bodies of water (rivers or lakes). This is the solution that is being implemented for the new ESBWR at North Anna, where there were concerns about too much additional heating of Lake Anna (which is an artificial lake built to cool the original reactors). Heat rejection is no problem if one uses cooling towers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-61735077929275339362007-05-23T04:56:00.000-04:002007-05-23T04:56:00.000-04:00I agree with Lisa's explanation all the way up to ...I agree with Lisa's explanation all the way up to the point where she says "Invent a thermodynamic cycle better than the ones the world's best minds have come up with in the past two centuries or so (and be sure to include my name on the patent)."<BR/><BR/>Smaller, more distributed plants can help by effectively providing a larger heat sink per unit waste heat produced. Larger heat sinks work, and certainly changing the rules to allow hotter discharges work (it is certainly worth investigating, but there is a real risk to plant and animal life that must be understood.)<BR/><BR/>With regard to "better" thermodynamic cycles, there are others available that do not have as much of a problem in exceeding discharge limits. Combined cycle gas turbines and cogeneration plants that make better use of their plant's input heat have been around for many years. Since they obtain thermal efficiencies approaching 60% instead of the 33% common to the simple Rankine cycle used by conventional light water reactors, they have less waste to get rid of.<BR/><BR/>There is a distinct possibility that nuclear combined cycle or cogeneration plants will be available in the not too distant future - the PBMR out of South Africa may be a suitable base plant for such a development.Rod Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652375336090790205noreply@blogger.com