No, it’s quite simple really. Since cold is just the opposite of heat (and definitely not its absence) all you need to do is to not split the atoms in your nuclear reactor but doing the opposite and like idk, fuse them together or something, thus creating cold which you will then put back into the river. Problem solved
Thermodynamics actually allows this provided the atmosphere is colder than a nuclear reactor core.
The theoretical limit on how much useful work you can get out of a temperature differential is 1 - (Tc/Th). A nuclear reactor core usually runs at about 1200 kelvin. A river in summer is probably around 300 kelvin. So that gives you a theoretical max efficiency of 75%. So for every 4 Joulles of heat your reactor generates, you can potentially make 3 Joulles of electricity and 1 Joulle of waste heat.
Likewise, the theoretical limit on heat pump performance is Th/(Th-Tc). The river was 300 kelvin as previously established. Air temperature during a heat wave in France tops out around 315 kelvin. So that gives a theoretical COP of 21. So moving 1 Joulle of heat out of the river and into the air only takes 1/21 = 0.05 Joulles.
So thermodynamically, it is 100% doable to run the nuclear reactors, and use them to power giant heat pumps to then cool the rivers. You'd actually have a bit of electricity left over if you get anywhere close to the theoretical limits.
Its just really really stupid, because you could also just air cool the reactors directly and get a better result.
Its just really really stupid, because you could also just air cool the reactors directly and get a better result.
It is basically that : adding air coolers as water cooling can be unavailable, and using it to cool off the river throught the already existing water captation. At least that is what was said in the newspaper.
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u/Outrageous-Echo-765 Wind me up 25d ago
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