USC BRIEF: GOT WATER?

Nuclear power plants are usually built on the shores of lakes, rivers, and oceans.1 This practice is not for the aesthetics such locales provide, but because the readily available water can absorb the waste heat produced by the plants. Nuclear power plants consume vast amounts of water during normal operation to absorb the waste heat left over after making electricity, and also to cool the equipment and buildings used in generating that electricity. In the event of an accident, nuclear power plants need water to remove the decay heat produced by the reactor core and also to cool the equipment and buildings used to provide the core’s heat removal. This issue brief describes the reliance of nuclear power plants on nearby bodies of water during normal operation and under accident conditions.

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