use nonfreshwater sources such as seawater (if located on the
coast), brackish water from wells or estuaries, agricultural
runoff, “produced water” from oil and gas drilling operations,
or treated municipal wastewater (Veil, 2007). The water
consumption is often of concern with thermal power plants;
however, the water use92 can also be an issue, as cooling water
is returned to the source at a higher temperature.  The water-
use impacts of future nuclear plants will depend on where the
new nuclear plants are sited (for example, along a coastline
versus the arid Southwest) and what cooling technologies are
employed. If deployed after 2020, alternative cooling
technologies such as dry cooling93 or hybrid cooling94 could
reduce water use compared to current technologies. Dry cooling
has been used for some coal-fired plants,95 but at present no
commercial nuclear plants have been constructed using this
technology; it is likely to have significant disadvantages,
including higher costs, higher operating power require