The Physics of Keeping Thermal Power Stations Cool

Thermal power plants worldwide are being shut down during heat waves because the rivers they rely on for cooling are warming and flowing less. According to Hackaday, the problem is especially acute for nuclear plants, which operate at surprisingly low efficiency: a typical modern light water reactor converts only about thirty-five percent of heat into electricity, dumping the rest as waste heat into cooling systems. When river temperatures rise and water runs scarce, there's nowhere to put that excess heat. The plants were built decades ago when river conditions were stable, but climate change has made the problem unavoidable. Retrofitting with cooling towers—as New York's Nine Mile Point facility did in nineteen seventy-six—can solve it, though these projects are expensive and complex, often taking years.

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