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Texas Needs Equivalent of 30 Reactors to Meet Data Center Power Demand (www.bloomberg.com)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/technology

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Mirror: https://archive.is/2025.02.28-182431/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-28/texas-needs-equivalent-of-30-reactors-to-meet-data-center-demand

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

They literally outlined the whole process... What stage in

Outside of that you have your clean loop, which is bog standard “use heat to make steam, steam move turbine, moving turbine make electiricity, steam cools back to water”. Again, there’s no part of that which somehow makes the water not exist, or not be usable for other purposes.

Wastes water?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

steam cools back to water

That one. The most common methods of condensing that steam rely on large bodies of water acting as heat sinks. Water in those large reservoirs is lost to evaporation, which is exacerbated by the additional heat.

The water in that reservoir must be reserved for the nuclear plant; a drought that drains the reservoir will knock the plant offline.

Air-cooled condensers are possible, but at significantly reduced efficiency, especially in already hot environments.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod -1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If you send the water through a bunch of pipes it needs treated before it can be put back into the environment. This is true of any industrial process. This takes it out of circulation for a while, and in an arid state like Texas that’s a waste.

And reactors need a lot of water, which is why they’re built next to the ocean or a lake or something.

[–] flavonol 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why put water back in the environment at all if it's needed to make steam again?

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Because they use water for more than making steam. Much more water is used to cool the steam condensers and is often just dumped into the surrounding environment to cool off. Turkey Point in Florida has miles of canals that cool this water down.

If you don't believe me, then listen to the IAEA who created a water management program for just this reason:

Countries in water scarce regions, and considering the introduction of nuclear power, may show concern on the requirement for securing water resources to operate nuclear power plants and search for strategies for efficient water management. Experience has shown that nuclear power plants are susceptible to prolonged drought conditions, forcing them to shut down reactors or reduce the output to a minimal level.

[–] flavonol 1 points 2 days ago

Thanks for the information.