Nuclear Desalination Newsletter
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Nuclear Desalination Newsletter News from the Technical Working Group on Nuclear Desalination No. 3, September 2011 ISSN 1995-7793 http:/www.iaea.org/nuclearpower/desalination Successful Commissioning of Nuclear Desalination Plant Contents in Pakistan A Word from the IAEA Deputy 2 Director General A Word from the Chairman of 3 the TWG-ND Recent activities in Member 4 States Highlights of IAEA activities 7 Technical Working Group on 11 Nuclear Desalination Selected list of IAEA publica- 12 tions on nuclear desalination In January 2011, The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission successfully commis- sioned the first unit of a nuclear desalination plant in the Karachi Nuclear Power Complex (KANUPP), a single unit CANDU PHWR with a total gross capacity of 137 3 MW(e). The demonstration plant producing 1600 m /day of pure water (TDS below 5 ppm), will provide adequate know-how and experience in design, manufacturing, op- Division of Nuclear Power eration and maintenance for local fabrication of future large scale desalination plants in Karachi and other populated areas along coastal belt. (Read more on Page 4) Department of Nuclear Energy IAEA P.O. Box 100 New IAEA Tools for Desalination Vienna International Centre 1400 Vienna, Austria A new version of DEEP, the IAEA’s Desalination Economic Evaluation Program was Tel : +43 1 2600 22751 released in February 2011. Users can now experience a more polished version and Fax: +43 1 2600 29598 enhance their prefeasibility reports with the new reporting and analysis tools provided Email: [email protected] by this version. Along with this release, a new tool named DEsalination Thermody- namic Optimization Program (DE-TOP) has been released. DE-TOP is complimen- tary to DEEP and helps analyze the thermodynamics of cogeneration systems with emphasis on water desalination. (Read more on Page 7) Nuclear Desalination Newsletter, No. 3, September 2011 A Word from the Deputy Director General The continuing improvement The IAEA also released a new tool named DEsalination of technologies and decrease of Thermodynamic Optimization Program (DE-TOP), cost, seawater desalination is which complements DEEP and is used to analyze the expected to play an important thermodynamics of cogeneration systems with emphasis role in the global economic and on water desalination. The IAEA toolkit on nuclear de- social development as well as salination, intended for Member States considering nu- in the ecological environment, clear power for seawater desalination, provides access to especially for regions having information on nuclear desalination including DEEP and severe water shortages such as DE-TOP. This tool was further improved in 2010 with China and the Middle East. updated and expanded information. Seawater desalination using I am pleased to be able to inform you that the IAEA in- nuclear energy is not only technically feasible but eco- tends to continue this support in the forthcoming years. nomically an option in varying site conditions and with a variety of nuclear reactor concepts. In any given coun- The IAEA’s activities on seawater desalination using try, nuclear desalination will become a viable option if nuclear energy have been conducted within the frame- the following two prerequisites exist: lack of potable work of the Technical Working Group on Nuclear De- water and the ability to deploy nuclear energy. In most salination (TWG-ND) in which countries are represent- regions, only one of the two is fulfilled. ed that have ongoing development programmes and are interested in the deployment of nuclear desalination. Many countries; e.g. China, the Republic of Korea and, This technical working group will also continue to pro- even more so, India and Pakistan have both factors pre- vide advice and guidance for implementation of the sent. These countries already account for almost half the IAEA’s programmatic activities in the area of nuclear world’s population, and thus represent a potential long desalination. term market for nuclear desalination. The accumulated experience in nuclear desalination will undoubtedly con- I am pleased with the release of this issue of the TWG- tribute to what many consider as the world wide central ND newsletter highlighting some current activities of issue of the 21st century: the crucial need for new the IAEA and its Member States. sources of freshwater for sustainable development. Within its continuing efforts to support Member States A. Bychkov through various forums of information exchange, tech- Deputy Director General nical cooperation projects, and publications, the IAEA updated and released a new version of Desalination Eco- Head, Department of Nuclear Energy, IAEA nomic Evaluation Program (DEEP 4.0) in 2011 with new features and easier usability for both newcomers and experts. For more information about the NE Department please visit: http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE 2 Nuclear Desalination Newsletter, No. 3, September 2011 A Word from the Chairman of TWG-ND Nuclear desalination is an inev- in nuclear desalination as well as providing technical itable option for the production advice to interested Member States. The TWG-ND of potable water. Increase in meeting was held in April 2011 at the IAEA, and was fresh water shortage, adverse attended by 14 Member States. The TWG-ND has impact of climate change on demonstrated a successful role in meeting its objectives quality/quantity of fresh water as specified in the terms of reference. This includes ex- and ever increasing price of change of information on nuclear desalination pro- fossil fuels favour the deploy- grammes, reviewing the progress and providing advice ment of nuclear desalination. and guidance on the IAEA’s activities in nuclear desali- It is anticipated that small, me- nation, such as coordinated research programmes, tech- dium and large size nuclear nical meetings, providing expert advice on preparatory desalination plants will be re- action by Member States for implementing nuclear de- quired in water stressed coastal areas in several parts of salination demonstration projects. the world. Credible prospects for nuclear desalination are foreseen in the next twenty years. Adopting the co- The TWG-ND endorsed the IAEA work plan on nuclear generation concept along with hybridization of desalina- desalination, which also includes technical cooperation tion system would help to make the production of desali- projects, publications on nuclear desalination, upgrade nated water from seawater affordable and sustainable. of Desalination Economic Evaluation Program (DEEP) and development of toolkit on nuclear desalination. The Technological development for nuclear desalination is successful release of DE-TOP and updated version of progressing in many countries. In India, for example two DEEP by the IAEA are important milestones. All can be types of nuclear desalination plants have successfully further enriched by involving Member States and re- been demonstrated: (i) a 6300 m3/d Nuclear Desalination nowned experts in defining the specifications, develop- Demonstration Plant (NDDP) using hybrid Multistage ing and reviewing the software tools at regular intervals Flash-Reverse Osmosis (MSF-RO) technology in so that input data and relevant formulas in both DE-TOP Kalpakkam coupled with Madras Atomic Power Station and DEEP can be updated from time to time to reflect (MAPS) and (ii) a Low Temperature Evaporation (LTE) present day conditions and analyses. plant coupled with a nuclear research reactor at Trombay. In light of the Fukushima accident and the apparent need for on-site fresh water for operational purposes, the Useful experience from design, fabrication and opera- TWG-ND recommends that the use of nuclear desalina- tion of the plants has been shared with the TWG-ND tion be evaluated as an additional fresh water supply members. Fellowship training and scientific visits to source for nuclear power plants. The scope of TWG-ND NDDP have been organized for interested Member may be widened for addressing the challenges related to States through the IAEA Technical Cooperation Pro- integrated water resources management for efficient use gramme. Pakistan has completed the successful commis- of water in nuclear facilities. There is a need to enhance sioning of Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) type nuclear communication with the public on nuclear desalination, desalination demonstration plant (1600 m3/d capacity) in possibly through increased contact with international the Karachi Nuclear Power Complex in January 2010. desalination workshops/ conferences/ networks. Small and Medium Reactors (SMRs) are viewed by The IAEA TWG-ND should continue to provide tech- many in the USA as technologically and economically nical advice to interested Member States through CRPs, promising future types of reactors for potential deploy- technical meetings, topical conferences, technical coop- ment in the USA and around the world. The coupling of eration programmes, computer software and toolkit. desalination systems with SMRs could be advantageous to the overall economics of the nuclear power plant. In The TWG-ND looks forward to the continuing addition, the need for fresh water and energy for sustain- programatic support from the IAEA for the further de- able economic growth around the world can provide ra- velopment and deployment of nuclear desalination as a tional for expansion of cogeneration operation of nuclear major contribution to sustainable socio-economic devel- power plants. opment. The Technical Working Group on Nuclear