Far-Field Influences Shadow the Effects of a Nuclear Power Plant’s Discharges in a Semi-Enclosed Bay

Chen-Tung (Arthur) Chen (), Sen Jan, Meng-Hsien Chen, Li-Lian Liu, Jung-Fu Huang and Yiing-Jang Yang
Additional contact information
Chen-Tung (Arthur) Chen: Department of Oceanography, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
Sen Jan: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Meng-Hsien Chen: Department of Oceanography, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
Li-Lian Liu: Department of Oceanography, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
Jung-Fu Huang: Department and Graduate Institute of Aquaculture, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan
Yiing-Jang Yang: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: The sustainable development of society depends on the reliable supply of electricity while keeping impacts on the environment to a minimum. A 951 MWe nuclear power plant in the semi-enclosed Nanwan Bay at the southern tip of Taiwan began operating in May 1984. Part of the bay is in Kenting National Park, which is known for its coral reefs and abundant marine life; thus, thermal pollution from the cooling water discharge is a great concern. Fortunately, the bay opens south to face the Luzon Strait, where the world’s strongest internal tides are generated. Because the bay is deep enough, internal waves bring up cold deep water and reduce the surface temperature by as much as 10 °C for a few hours every day. These internal waves and topographically generated upwelling also bring nutrients to the euphotic layer from the depths, but the upwelled waters quickly leave the bay along with the cooling water. As a result, a thermal plume with a temperature of 1 °C or higher than the ambient temperature only covers 1 km. By way of comparison, El Niño—Southern Oscillation- or Pacific Decadal Oscillation-related interannual variations in temperature are as high as 5 °C. The rapid turnover of the upwelled waters also helps to prevent heat released by the power plant from accumulating and diminishes the thermal stress, thus sustaining corals and other marine life forms. Typhoons, even hundreds of kilometers away, could also induce the upwelling of cold subsurface water. Consecutive typhoons have been observed to reduce the water surface temperature by up to 10 °C for two weeks or longer. Furthermore, the currents are such that the thermal plume flows out of the bay most of the time. All of these factors make the surface waters in the bay about 0.5 °C cooler than the waters outside of the bay, despite the operation of a nearby nuclear power plant.

Keywords: nuclear power plant; thermal pollution; Nanwan Bay; Daya Bay; upwelling; internal waves (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9092/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9092/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:9092-:d:1163937

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().