Fun fact.<br>Even in a Nuclear power plant, the cooling water has never even gotten close to the reactor itself.<br>Yes, the reactor does have water around it to keep it cool, and yes, it also boils water to run turbines.<br>But to cool that steam back down after it has gone through our turbines, a power plant uses large condensers (heat exchangers), that move heat from the "steam" loop that actually goes "through" the core, and then places that heat into our "cooling" loop that typically either goes to cooling towers, or at times a river instead.<br>The only reason why this waste heat isn't used for anything is primarily down to two reasons:<br>1. People are afraid that the water is contaminated.<br>2. Nuclear power plants are typically build out in the middle of nowhere...<br><br>Though, in Iceland's case, living on top of a literal volcano has some major advantages when it comes to both power and heating. And the otherwise fairly arctic climate makes cooling a large non issue most of the year as well....