There are two main types of cold water discharged from nuclear power plants, namely evaporative cooling water discharged from cooling towers and primary water discharged from nuclear reactors.
For evaporative cooling water discharged from the cooling tower, it is actually water that exchanges heat and has a lower temperature. It dissipates heat through continuous evaporation and maintains it at a certain temperature. This type of water is treated secondary water. This is not unique to nuclear power plants. Similar processes are used in other industries.
The other is the discharge of primary water from nuclear reactors. This water is treated deionized water and is suitable for nuclear power plants. In a nuclear power plant, the water in the primary circuit is not in direct contact with the environment, while the cooling water in the secondary circuit is in direct contact withthe environment. The quality of the water in the secondary circuit is therefore very good. demanding and the stability of water quality must be ensured. The discharge of this water into the environment has practically no impact on the environment.
In summary, cold water discharged from nuclear power plants is mainly evaporative cooling water and primary water from nuclear reactors. This water has been treated and has a low temperature, so it has less impact on the environment.
A method of producing electricity using thermal energy released by nuclear fission in a nuclear reactor. It is very similar to thermal power generation, except that nuclear reactors and steam generators are used to replace thermal power boilers, and nuclear fission energy is used to replace thermal power. chemistry of fossil fuels. Except for reactorsboiling water, other types of power reactors heat the coolant through the reactor core, transfer the heat to the water in the steam generator, and then form steam to drive the turbogenerator. In a boiling water reactor
The coolant is heated through the reactor core and transformed into supersaturated steam with a pressure of about 70 atmospheres. Once the steam and water are separated and dried, it directly drives the turbogenerator. /p>
Use of nuclear power generation The heat generated by the nuclear fission chain reaction of uranium fuel heats water to high temperature and high pressure, and uses the generated water to produce steam
rotate the steam turbine and drive the generator. The heat released by nuclear reactions is much greater than the energy released by the combustion of fossil fuels (the differencee is about a million times). In comparison, the volume of fuel required is much lower than that of thermal power plants. Uranium 235 used in nuclear power production is only 3% pure. 4%, and the rest is uranium 238 which cannot produce nuclear fission.
For example, a nuclear power plant uses 80 tons of nuclear fuel each year, and only 2 standard containers can transport it. If it were to be powered by coal, it would require 5.15 million tonnes and 20 tonne trucks to transport 705 cars per day. If natural gas is used, 1.43 million tons are required, which is equivalent to burning 10,000 barrels of domestic natural gas every day.