Very interesting article. The argument that nuclear generation as opposed to fossil fuel generation will add to potential global warming doesn't make sense, as the cooling requirements are the same. As you said, there would be local effects if the nuclear plants are larger, but not global.
Nuclear is a hot political issue in Australia where I live. Those who don't want nuclear generation make every argument they can think of, whether there is any basis or not. One classic is mentioned in the article, that there are not many suitable locations along the coast. Australia has probably 10000 miles of coastline, and the population is only 20 million. And the whole continent is geologically stable. Go figure.
Nuclear has lower steam temperature and therefore lower thermal efficiency and therefore more heat rejected to the condensor heat sink per MW power output.
I agree these are local effects. Each plant is different and the environmental effects are considered during plant siting. Many plants have cooling towers or dedicated reservoirs.
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