water management

Drought conditions across the Southeast have begun affecting power plant operations. According to the Associated Press, 24 of America’s 104 nuclear reactors are in areas now experiencing the most severe levels of drought, and 22 of those plants draw their cooling water from rivers and lakes. Recently, the level of several of those lakes nearly fell to the minimum necessary to continue reactor operation. Last August, for example, Tennessee Valley Authority said that higher inlet water temperatures caused by lower water levels had forced load curtailments or plant shutdowns at its Browns Ferry, Gallatin, and Cumberland plants. Reduced hydro generation has been another consequence of the drought (see “Water’s role in power generation”).