The influence of condenser cooling water temperature on the thermal efficiency of a nuclear power plant

This study presents a methodology for studying the impact of the cooling water temperature on the thermal performance of a nuclear power plant (NPP). The main findings of this study are that an increase of one degree Celsius in temperature of the coolant extracted from environment is forecasted to decrease by 0.444% and 0.152% in the power output and the thermal efficiency of the nuclear-power plant considered, respectively. The effect of climatic changes is shown to be important in the design of more effective cooling technique and to device methods to compensate for the loss in plant efficiency. Climate considerations will also become even more important when deciding where to build new thermal power plants. So, the paper offers an additional design dimension to be considered when designing new power stations.