Floating Nuclear Power Plants = Instant Desalination

Nuclear power is controversial, that's for sure, and the Russians don't have the best safety record--that's really for sure.  

However, nuclear power is likely to remain a part of our energy portfolio for a long time to come. Between the controversies associated with fossil fuels and the expectations-dashing disappointments associated with green energy, nuclear power stares at us--an obvious source of enormous energy. 

One additional benefit of nuclear power is that it's relative mobile.  Indeed, the US Navy has been operating nuclear reactors on submarines since the launching of the USS Nautilus in 1955; and the Navy has an unblemished nuclear safety record. 

So this article, by Gizmodo's Andrew Liszewski, does not fill me with enthusiasm for Russian floating nuclear power plants--it fills me with enthusiasm for American floating nuclear power plants, especially those that might be operated by the US Navy.

As Liszewski observes, water-borne power plants could move to wherever energy was needed, from disaster locations to offshore drilling sites.  In addition, he notes, such plants "can be easily modified to serve as floating desalination plants, producing 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water every day."

And that would be very cool, because desalination is one of those looming issues that we are going to have to confront.  For reasons of--your choice--global warming, simple population growth, or natural cycles, much of the world--including big patches of the US--face desertification.  And so let's do something about it, as I suggested here, last year, in the pages of The American Conservative.  

These floating power plants could help, although, of course, there are lots of ways to desalinate water.