Question

Why is a nuclear power station that uses a river for cooling water required to collect environmental samples UPSTREAM from the discharge point?

Answer 1

The water from river is used for cooling purpose in nuclear power plant. The temperature difference of downstrem river water and upstream river is important for a plant to run with full efficiency. If this temperature difference is high, the efficiency of cooling of river water will be high and thus the efficiency of a plant will be high. Inlet water (water taken from the river for cooling purpose) has very low temperature and after cooling the water become heated (as it absorbs heat) is recycled to the river which increases the temperature of the downstream river and also in the summer, the temperature rises and thus the temperature difference between downstream river water and the upstream river is not constant always. Therefore upstream environmental sampling collection is required to monitor the temperature difference and adjust the power plant production accordingly.