Little Known Drought Casualty

nuclear plant

As we’ve known for 70 years, nuclear fission converts matter into an unbelievable amount of energy.  In order to control the reaction, nuclear plants across the country evaporate billions of gallons of water out of their massive cooling towers (you know the ones).  With drought conditions worsening across much of the US, specifically in the southeast, reactors may have to shut down for safety, according to the AP.

Proponents of nuclear power expansion forget that with current drought trends, we may not even be able to support the nuke plants we already have.  The global warming trend means less snowfall in the winter, which means less snowmelt in the spring, which means less fresh water throughout the year.

We have just gone through a year when food prices spiked because of biofuel production.  Do we want to put the same pressure on water prices by increasing demand within the nuclear industry?


Posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 1:11 pm | Tagged in Energy | posted by Marc

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