would australia have to build a desalination plant in order to provide fresh water for a nuclear power plant?

Answer 1

Sure, why not?

Answer 2

Nope, a lot of places use either stored fresh water (by the way Australia does have rivers) or draws on filtrated sea water. Given the lifespan and renuall rate of a reactor it really doesnt matter too much.

Answer 3

Not at all
If they build a PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) They can use a tertiary cooling system. The primary one is to transfer heat out of the reactor core, secondary is to make the steam, the tertiary is to cool the leftover steam by putting it through a heat exchanger cooled by sea water.

Answer 4

Although nuclear power can provide for the energy needs of the future, but it is not a "green" energy. The social cost we all have to pay in the future outweighs the benefits of nuclear plants / nuclear energy, taking the lessons from our past experiences with nuclear plant all over the world. Alternatively, more R&D should be channeled into areas of wind, solar, & water energy generation. The key word here is alternative "green" energy. After all, we only have 1 earth and it is clear to all of us that polluting it further would only result in killing ourselves and our future generations. Only "green" energy guarantees our & future generations' continued existence on this one and only home we have; Earth. As in all developments, initial development costs are high but as we develop and move towards "green" energy, there is invariably a tipping point where "green" energy becomes economically viable energy. Furthermore, how can human kind trade-off the cost of developing clean energy against the known certainty of pure negative environmental effects of nuclear plants ? There should not be a consideration of developing further nuclear power plants at all, in the face of certainty of the negative effects to the environment. "Green" and clean energy should be pursued as the future energy solution for the future.

Answer 5

We should have desalination plants around the whole coastline. I don't know the answer to your question, though I reckon it would make sense.

Answer 6

Not needed. Build it on the coast and use sea water. We do in the uk................