What is the comparitive efficiency bewteen a nuclear power station and a victorian steam pumping engine?

Question

What is the comparitive efficiency bewteen a nuclear power station and a victorian steam pumping engine?

Answer 1

the meat and potatoes of both those systems is one and the same. if you make the piping in the victorian thing as airtight and steam friendly as the nuke plant ones, as well as not wasting the heat from your "coals", the efficiency would be the same or at least comparable. do note that coal heat is much less intense than the nuke heat, so the actual energy would be less, but the question is about efficiency (power out/power in).

Answer 2

Nuclear plants use steam turbines which are far more efficient.

Nuclear plants also waste far less heat, because some of the steam cycles are closed, whereas in the old steam engines they were open cycles.

I don't have any specific numbers, though.

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