Steam generation in a nuclear plant is a closed system. That means there is very little loss of the water.
This is why you never take the word of a blogger when science is concerned. Most, if not all of his arguments are political idealism and not scientific fact.
Mr. Fuller, I realize you came into your own during the 60's. I also realize that your probably a real hippie. That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing but the socialist leanings of those times are not a good thing for the people of this planet nor are they good for the planet itself. I know you are doing it to be a good person and to feel good about yourself but if you're going to continue to post, maybe you should get the facts right and not make statements intended to denigrate certain technologies just because you don't like them.
Ok, I'll give you the point that there may be more loss due to the cooling water that is used. In my city (the city owns the company that generates the power), we have some man made lakes that are used for cooling of the coal power plants. They are dual purpose in that they are also used for recreational activities. They have a lot of surface area and that may lead to more evaporation. How much more evaporation than if they hadn't been created? I couldn't guess but if the streams and creeks that fill it would have had the bulk of the water run into the Gulf of Mexico if not for the reservoir and therefore wouldn't have been potable anyway.
Just keep in mind that whether you use NG, Nuke, or coal to make steam, that steam is generally made in closed system that means the water is regularly recycled with little loss.
Yes, there’s plenty of water on the earth. But most of it is in oceans, or clouds. Less than 5% of the earth’s water is potable at any one time. And modern, industrial-scale energy is often derived from a process that uses enormous amounts of water. Take coal…or nuclear…or natural gas. All boil lots of water to turn turbines to make electricity. You may hate dammed rivers, but at least that water is only drained of its kinetic energy and then passed on in pretty much its original state. Dams essentially tap into gravity as a source of energy. So far, not a single geologist has warned us of global gravity depletion caused by human activity. Whew.
Here’s an interesting look at…ready for this…your water footprint. Sorta like the one you leave as you walk away from the swimming pool toward the cabana.
