Hot Water

Here in Japan, next to where I work there’s a nuclear power station right on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. Its installed power is about 1 GW. Nuclear power plants usually run with an efficiency of about 30 – 35%, which means that for this particular one, about 2 GW of power ends up dissipated as heat. The cooling system dumps this heat in the ocean as hot water at 40 degrees centigrade or so. This is enough to keep a small bay nearby warmer throughout the year. It looks like this extra heat creates a small microclimate and fish and marine life tend to grow larger than normal. This might be just a local legend, but I’ve seen quite a few fishermen around patiently waiting for the big catch. I guess one could find a logical explanation for this. The extra heat creates a more hospitable environment for algae and other marine life which will grow more rapidly and abundantly. And with more food available, it is only normal for fish to grow larger.