Possible Challenges of Nuclear Power Plants under Climate Change Scenarios

Along with other low carbon technologies, Nuclear power plants are given immense importance to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from the energy sector. Nuclear power provides 11% of the global electricity production. However, like other thermo-electric plants, nuclear plants are also vulnerable to the different impacts of climate change. Increase of ambient temperature would reduce the efficiency of the nuclear plants. Water stress in different locations under changing climate would affect the coolant water supply to the plants. Warming of coolant water is also a major concern for the plants. Many authors have reported reduction of output of the nuclear plants under future warming scenarios. Additionally, sea-level rise, cyclones and hurricanes possess severe threats to the coastal plants. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate climate change risks and formulate long-term strategies for sustainable power generation. Planning and utilization of new generation technologies is required to protect the plants from the possible impacts of climate change and avoid unexpected disruption of generation.