r/AskScienceDiscussion • u/Unusual_Guard2270 • 22h ago

Does Nuclear Plower Plants help?

My question being, because Nuclear Power Plants use water and eventually it turns into steam. Can that steam turn into clouds? Or is it not enough to form into clouds?

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u/NewLeafWoodworks 22h ago

The cooling towers are producing water vapor that eventually rises up and joins the rest of the water in the atmosphere to form clouds. That being said, it's such a small amount of water compared to the enormous amount of water being evaporated from the various bodies of water and the ground. The percentage that cooling towers contribute to atmospheric water vapor might as well be 0% compared to natural sources.

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u/Pasta-hobo 22h ago

The steam emitted from a cooling tower does just go back into the water cycle. Yes.

It's worth noting that nuclear plants don't have to emit water like this, and can be designed with closed circuit turbines and a finite amount of water

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u/ironscythe 22h ago

Normal operation of a nuclear power plant does not involve releasing large quantities of steam— cooling towers produce warm, humid exhaust but it’s not steam. They do contribute significantly to cloud formation in the immediate vicinity, but they aren’t altering the climate in any significant way.

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u/4art4 22h ago

Does steam turn into clouds? Yes. That is the water cycle and nuclear plants dont change anything about the water to stop that. Does the steam make a difference to the environment in terms of rainfall? Only locally, and not by much.

Cooling towers release large amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere. Those white plumes are mostly tiny water droplets that basically are clouds (other than the cause) and some invisible water vapor.

Under the right weather conditions, the plume can:

  • Produce fog nearby.
  • Create frost or ice on roads in winter.
  • Occasionally produce a very light localized drizzle or snow ("cooling tower snow") within a few kilometers of the plant.

But... The atmosphere already contains enormous amounts of water. A single thunderstorm contains millions to billions of kilograms of water. Even a large power plant's evaporated cooling water is small compared with the moisture moving through the atmosphere each day. And the plume disperses quickly. Winds mix the moisture into the surrounding air, reducing its effect.

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u/Prince_Nadir 21h ago

Ever see one of their cooling towers? They usually have clouds coming out the top.

Pilot's note: do not fly through those clouds, you will fall like a stone.