This just in from Kate Sheppard on Grist! McCain's favorite power source gets panned by Environment America.

This objection to nuclear power always tends to slip by.  Even with a new generation of mass produced modular nukes, it still takes water to run the steam turbines.

Water we don't have.  All the water conservation efforts possible are necessary just to stop the depletion of aquifers and rivers, nothing is left over for nuclear power except desalination.

And much like coal with CCS, that puts another whole efficiency burden on nuckes.  Much of the power produced by nukes or clean coal would need to be used to desalinate water, and in the case of CCS, pump CO2 underground.

Actually all forms of combustion based power have this problem.  Burning biomass takes water too.

Which technology, that can backup renewables, does not take water?  Biogas from waste used in solid oxide fuel cell/turbine cogenerators. these distrinuted generators use hot gases frm the fuel cell (800 degrees) in the gas turbine, no steam.  

In fact it would save water, reclaiming waste water normally flushed into waterways.  No more manure run off, for instance.  Manure into energy, water recycled.

It recycles fertilizer too, from the waste stream to the fields.  Saving a whole other stream of GHG and natural gas consumption to make ammonia fertilizer.  

Saving natural gas saves aquifers that are being wrecked by natural gas drilling.  Thanks to Cheney's eco-chicanery (hehey), Wyoming's ground water is being devestated by drilling.

Furthermore, an affordable GHG offsetting distributed backup power source for renewables allows a smart grid to run mainly on wind and solar power.  Eliminating water use from combustion and nuclear power plants.