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1
Energy and Waste Equivalence

• A 1,000 MW coal-fired power plant on average
• uses 3,500,000 tons of coal per year
• produces 8,000,000 tons of CO2 per year
• produces 440,000 tons of haz waste per year
• A 1,000 MW nuclear power plant on average
• uses 29 tons of fuel (4 enriched) per year
• which can be recycled many times
• produces about 1,000 tons of CO2 per year
• produces less than 10 tons of haz waste per year
• produces about 5 tons of nuclear waste per year

2
Thermal - Pollution or Product?

• Most power plants (nuclear or fossil fuel) are
  cooled by water, only a few by air. Cooling may
  be by a single pass through the condenser then
  discharge to a water body at slightly elevated
  temperature. Or the water may be recirculated,
  passing through the condenser and then a cooling
  tower, using evaporative cooling which consumes
  (evaporates) some water - around 5 of the flow
  in a once-through system. The cooled water then
  is returned to the condenser.
• Cooling towers reduce the overall efficiency of a
  power plant by 3-5.
• Water consumption is the same for nuclear or
  coal. Differences result from thermal efficiency
  - how much heat has to be deposited into the
  environment. A nuclear or coal plant running at
  32 efficiency will need to deposit about 5 more
  heat than one at 35-36 efficiency. Plants are
  generally between 30 and 36.
• If designed from the start, this excess heat
  could be used to heat local structures.

3
So what can we do with nuclear waste? First,
there is not much of it - all nuclear reactor
waste worldwide can fit into 5 soccer fields In
the United States waste from nuclear power
2,000 tons solids (20 of U.S. power
supply) generated each year waste from coal
fired power plants 100,000,000 tons solids (70
of U.S. power supply) 2,000,000,000 tons CO2
generated each year chemical and sanitary
waste gt 500,000,000 tons solids generated each
year wastewater requiring treatment gt
2,000,000,000,000,000 gal generated each year