From: smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM (Steve McKinty - SunConnect ICNC)
Subject: Re: What do Nuclear Site's Cooling Towers do?
Organization: SunConnect
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Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: hardy.france.sun.com
Keywords: Nuclear

In article <1qlg9o$d7q@sequoia.ccsd.uts.EDU.AU>, swalker@uts.EDU.AU (-s87271077-s.walker-man-50-) writes:
> 
> 
> I really don't know where to post this question so I figured that
> this board would be most appropriate.
> I was wondering about those massive concrete cylinders that
> are ever present at nuclear poer sites. They look like cylinders
> that have been pinched in the middle. Does anybody know what the
> actual purpose of those things are?. I hear that they're called
> 'Cooling Towers' but what the heck do they cool?

Water. Nuclear stations don't generate electricity directly from the
reactor, they use the reactor to generate heat. The heat is then used to
heat water just as in a conventional oil or coal station, and the
resultant steam drives the turbines.

The cooling towers are used to cool the steam and recondense it into water
to continue the cycle

Steve

-- 
Steve McKinty
Sun Microsystems ICNC
38240 Meylan, France
email: smckinty@france.sun.com	   BIX: smckinty
