Photo of Turkey Point showing cooling canals – virtual radiator

ByRod Adams

I found the below photo of FP&L’s Turkey Point power station that gives a good representation of the size of the cooling canals compared to the entire installation. The light colored area in the very upper right corner of the photo contains two nuclear reactors and all of their associated secondary equipment, two oil fired power stations and one large combined cycle plant with four gas turbines and a steam secondary. As can be seen, the cooling canals require far more room than all of the rest of the equipment combined.

The arrangement has been described as a large radiator. It also happens to be one of the most productive American crocodile breeding areas in the country.

Addition posted May 30, 2007: Reader Ian pointed out that you can explore the site yourself from Google Maps using the following link – http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.398003,-80.341644&spn=0.14251,0.204964&t=k&z=13&om=1 . Thank you Ian, it is an interesting trip to be able to zoom in and see just how small the reactor building are in comparison to the rest of the equipment on site – like the fuel oil storage tanks for the fossil plant.

Rod Adams
Rod Adams

Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.

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