Nuclear desalination. Experience, needs, and prospects

There are various developed sea-water desalination processes but the most promising are the low-temperature, horizontal-tube multi-effect - or multistage - distillation (LT-HTMED), vapour compression (VC), and reverse osmosis (RO). Today, larger plants are being built that consume considerable quantities of heat, raising the question of a reliable, continuous, and affordable heat supply source. Currently, oil is mainly used as the energy source required in the desalination process. But higher oil prices, and the trend toward larger, more energy-intensive desalination plants, are contributing to the search for other sources. Among the options being considered for the long term is the coupling of nuclear power plants with desalination processes. Such 'dual purpose' complexes would supply both electricity to help meet energy demands and the heat to help desalt large amounts of water. This article presents a review of demonstration plants and recent studies.