[Atomic-S (OP)]

I opine that the water shortage of the Western United States, the shortage of power in California, and the problem of nuclear waste disposal could all be alleviated simultaneously by the building of combination power generation & desalinization plants along the California coast, fueled by waste plutonium extracted from nuclear power plant waste. That could reduce California's demand for Colorado river water, which the upper states could then buy from California, helping to finance the project for California. It would be a win, win, win situation.

[Nizzle]

I'm European, so no real insight in America's weather patterns, but why would the upper states buy water from Cali?

Doesn't it rain a lot over at Oregon and Washington?

[Atomic-S (OP)]

Well, it is not just Oregon and Washington. It is more significantly Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, maybe Montana. Many states depend on the Colorado River for a significant part of their water, as does California, and they are the ones that would be affected. The reason why they would be interested in buying California's water allotment from the river is that they need it, and also it is more practical to do that than to try to find other sources. For example, it makes no sense to try to pump desalinized water from the ocean to Colorado due to the distance and the elevation change. It would be better to pump desalinized seawater to California, right where it is extracted, and then let the upper states have more of the water that naturally occurs in their part of the geography.

[Bored chemist]

If the only waste product from a nuclear reactor were plutonium you would have a point.
It isn't.
The plutonium is, in many cases, a desired product whether the intention is for a nuclear weapons programme or as a breeder reactor system.

[pradeepkumar]

The connections between water scarcity, power generation and the federal government's promotion of nuclear power are worth reflecting on in National Water Week, held from October 21-27.