Review on marine ecological environment effects of circulating cooling water of coastal nuclear power plants
WANG Yibin
ZHANG Jingjing
LIU Si
YIN Xiaofei
ZHANG Aijun
LIU Jun
ZANG Jiaye
Abstract：Under the background of the goal of"emission peak and carbon neutrality"and power short-age,new energy is a significant problem for China's sustained development.As an inevitable choice,nuclear power plants(NPPs)have ushered in a period of rapid development.However,the operation of NPPs requires large amounts of water resources as cooling water and produces continuous thermal pol-lution,impingement and entrainment effect simultaneously,which may produce significant impacts on the receiving water body.Therefore,it is extremely necessary to understand the negative effects of the NPPs construction on aquatic ecosystem.Previous studies proved that the water intake and drainage of circulating cooling water affected the ecological environment balance of the adjacent sea area,emerged some ecological problems such as ecological disasters,and caused the evolution of the regional ecologi-cal environment.It is not easy to describe the long-term ecological impacts of the construction and op-eration period of the NPPs on the coastal areas.Specifically,this review comprehensively elaborated on how circulating cooling water and thermal discharge affects the marine ecological environment,aiming to provide substantial scientific support for the ecological and safe use of coastal nuclear power,long-term reliable utilization of nuclear power,and the monitoring and protection of the marine ecological environment in China.
Keywords：coastal nuclear power plantcirculating cooling watermarine ecological environment effectthermal effluentimpingement and entrainment effect
Publication Date：2025-08-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：9( 265-273 )