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Heat Wave Shuts Down Alabama Reactor
mdsolar writes "In a first for the US, one of three nuclear reactors at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama has been shut down because the Tennessee River is too hot to provide adequate cooling for the waste heat produced by the reactor. This is happening as the TVA faces its highest demand for power ever, reports the Houston Chronicle. This effect has been seen in Europe in the past, forcing reduced generation, but the US has until now been immune to the problem. The TVA will buy power elsewhere and impose higher rates, blaming reduced river flow as a result of drought."
It ain't about problems with the cooling itself, for that the rivers would need to be far hotter. The problem is enviromental, if you add extra heat to an already warm river you risk that it rises to the point were you destroy the eco-system. Simply put, the fishes get cooked and the algea grow out of control.
This is considered to be a bad thing.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
If only it were that simple.
Imagine one of those old-style water wheels. Your question is akin to asking, "Why not figure out a way to use the energy of that flowing water without wasting it by allowing it to flow away?"
s/ice cold beer/frosty piss/
If the beer's Bud, don't bother - there's no difference.
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
The bicycle as a commuter vehicle works only under ideal conditions and only for the young and fit. You won't be taking a bicycle into Buffalo, NY in mid-winter. You won't be taking a bicycle into Houston, TX in mid-summer.
They say the mind is the first thing to
Huh. Gosh. See, if we'd invested in a MIX of power instead of depending so heavily on coal and nuclear (which the industry is trying to bump up in significance), we wouldn't be facing such a predicament.
Germany has wisely seen fit to invest one-seventh of its power money in wind energy. And it has legislated, and many Germnans have benefited for years already, from a solar-energy subsidy.
Too bad we don't have uncorrupted, uncronyed leadership in the US with the courage and vision to diversify the energy portfolio. Pay now or pay MUCH MUCH more later.
Nuke-lovers are always griping that wind-energy is too unreliable. Huh, guess what?
"You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream." -- Sherwood Anderson
Even more unlikely, try selling people on the idea of placing nuke plants in large metropolitan areas so they can buy piped in heat from the plant.
Now if you presented to the American public with the word "free" heat, then we might get something going.