Abstract
Water and nuclear reactors are much closer intertwined than usually perceived. First, water is the source of the steam that drives the turbines of most nuclear power plants around the world. Next to generating electricity, water is the key to preventing accidents in nuclear plants. As uranium keeps on generating heat when the power plant is turned off, its core needs to be cooled continuously. This crucial connection between water and nuclear is focus of the paper. Nuclear safety will appear as relying heavily on earlier knowledge, institutions, and regulatory frameworks, which were related to water. The three parts of this article discuss technologies, actors and risks of nuclear power. Studying water as a resource in a much broader sense than being boiled for steam shows how determining water is to make nuclear power function. As this paper is part of a special issue, Water History in the time of COVID-19, it has undergone modified peer review.
Highlights
Water is the source of the steam that drives the turbines of most nuclear power plants around the world
A nuclear power plant is just a very complicated way of boiling water
When France began to build light water reactors, these pressure tests had to be done on reactor parts too, which made the Corps des Mines an important actor in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants
Summary
A nuclear power plant is just a very complicated way of boiling water. This humorous and perhaps slightly cynical statement is a common boutade among nuclear engineers.
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