Nuclear Desalination

For Water Supply and

Electricity Generation.
Presented By
Corp Members N.S.T
Department

Table of Contents
Introduction.
Diagram showing water distribution on earth.
Desalination.
Nuclear Desalination .
Classification of nuclear reactors for desalination.
Requirements for nuclear reactor for Desalination.
Nuclear Desalination Processes.
Schematic Diagram Showing Plant for various purposes.
Schematic Diagram showing Extraction cycle for a Dual purpose plant .
Safety of nuclear Desalination plants.
Importance of nuclear Desalination.
Advantages of Nuclear Desalination over other types of desalination.
Disadvantages of Nuclear Desalination.
Importance of Nuclear Desalination to Nigeria.
Conclusion.
Refrecenses.

Introduction:
With the effort of IAEA to encourage and promote the peaceful
use and application of Nuclear technology it came up with the
idea of the use of nuclear Energy for Water desalination
through researches.
The world is becoming increasingly aware of critical limitations
in the availability of fresh water and electricitys for
Agricultural, industrial and domestic uses, Because of growing
population.
The usable portion of all water resources is only about
200000km3 of water which is less than 1% of all fresh water
and only 0.01% of all water on earth. As such nuclear
desalination is technically feasible , economically viable and is
sustainable solution to meet the future water and electricity
needs.

Diagram showing water Distribution on earth.

From world Energy council

What is Desalination
Desalination generally refers to any of the

several processes that remove some amount

salt and other minerals from saline water
(Wikipedia)

What is Nuclear
Desalination.
Nuclear Desalination could be defined to be the production of

portable water from sea water in a facility in which a nuclear

reactor is used as the source of energy for the desalination
process.
Meanwhile there are other types of desalination technique,
which include (1) Thermal process , based on the utilization of
heat energy for distillation (also requiring some electrical energy
for the pumps and other auxiliary systems and(2) Membrane
based processes using only electrical (or mechanical energy).
Among the thermal process the most commonly used are
MSF(multi effect Distillation).vapour compression(VC) is a
distillation process which uses electrical Energy.
Reverse osmosis(RO) and Electro Dialysis(ED) are membrane
based process.

CLASSIFICATION OF NUCLEAR
REACTORS IN DESALINATION
There are two basic classification of nuclear

reactors in desalination ,which are based on

there uses: (i) They can be used for a Single
purpose (i e heat production for Desalination
OR (ii) Dual purpose (generating electricity
and heat production).

Requirements for a nuclear reactor

for Desalination.
It should be available in sizes of practical

interest for both single purpose and Dual

purpose.
The technology of the particular reactor type
should be well developed to guarantee safe
and reliable operation .
High availability: This means the that the
reactor should be capable of operating
continuously for long period without forced
outages

Nuclear Desalination Process.

Separation of water or salt from saline water is a thermodynamic

process requiring an input of nuclear energy which also depend on

the type of desalination system coupled to it.
The nuclear reactor supplies energy to desalination systems either
in the form of heat or of the mechanical /electrical energy. It also
supplies thermal energy for desalination process.
There are two mode of coupling of nuclear desalination plant which
are parallel and series mode.
Desalination plants can be coupled as a single purpose plant or a
cogeneration plant. In single purpose energy is used exclusively for
desalination where the product out put is portable water, while in
dual purpose plant energy is used for desalting ie it produces both
electricity and water simultaneously.

Schematic Diagram showing Plants

for Various Purposes.

Schematic Diagram
showing Extraction Cycle For A Dual Purpose Plant

Safety of Nuclear Desalination

Plant.
The safety of nuclear desalination plants

depends on the safety of the nuclear plants

and the nature of its coupling to the
desalination systems. The extent of
interaction between the nuclear plants and
the desalination system must be t6aken into
account in determining the safety of the
nuclear desalination systems.

Importance of Nuclear Desalination

To obtain fresh water for industrial , agricultural

and domestic uses in commercial quantity.

For electricity generation and power supply.
Nuclear desalination is economically competitive
as compared to desalination by the fossil Energy
sources .
Nuclear reactors provide heat in a large range of
temperatures which allows easy adaptation for
desalination purposes.
Nuclear desalination leads to huge infrastructural
development and investment.

It can also offer employment opportunities to

viable Nigerian youths that are not employed.

It can promote training of brilliant graduates
to become experts as such becoming assets
to the country.

Advantages of Nuclear Desalination

over other Types
It can perform dual function at a time by

producing both portable water and electricity.

It can produce large amount of heat enough
for the desalination process.
It can also be used for commercial purposes
to serve a lot of people.
It is cost effective especially for dual purpose
plant based on the financial investment, fuel
consumption and required personnel.

Disadvantages of Nuclear
Desalination for Dual purpose plant.
Less overall flexibility: its operation may not be as

flexible as a single purpose plant, because there is

economic pressure to maximize the combined
production of water and power.
Slightly low availability factor : Any incident
interrupting the output of one of the two product may
lead to a disturbance or stoppage in the production of
the other, thus increasing the cost per unit product.
Off- optimum site and timing: The optimal location and
commissioning date of the desalination plant. From the
aspects of water conveyance, distribution and supply
may not coincide with those of the power plant .

Importance of Nuclear Desalination

to Nigeria.
To obtain fresh water for industrial ,Agricultural and

domestic uses in commercial quantity.

For electricity generation and supply
Nuclear Desalination is economically competitive as
compared to desalination by the fossil energy sources.
Nuclear desalination leads to huge infrastructural
development and investment as such boosting the economy
of the country .
It can offer employment to viable Nigerian youth that are
not employed.
It can promote training of brilliant graduates to become
experts as such becoming assets to the country.
It can also be an opportunity of passing Nuclear energy bill.

Conclusion
Nuclear desalination is in fact a great

application of Nuclear technology by

producing fresh water and electricity through
cogeneration plant , contributing to the
development and economic expansion of the
country there by improving life in our country.

THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING

Refrences
G. Varella, A dual Purpose Plant using FBNR.(

varella@orfeu.com.br)
International Atomic Energy agency, Vienna,
2000.(Introduction of Nuclear Desalination a
Guide Book.
Technical aspects of Desalination Plants.
Wikipedia a free Encyclopedia, Accessed
March 17 2014.(sources of vocabulary
definitions).
World Energy Council ,Water for Energy 2010.