Sea-waterdesalinationwithnuclearandotherenergysources:theEURODESALprojectOriginalResearchArticle

ThispapersummarisesourrecentinvestigationsundertakenaspartoftheEURODESALprojectonnucleardesalination,currentlybeingcarriedoutbyaconsortiumoffourEuropean,andoneCanadian,industrialsandtwoleadingEUR&Dorganisations. Majorachievementsoftheproject,asdiscussedinthispaperare: • Coherentdemonstrationofthetechnicalfeasibilityofnucleardesalinationthroughtheelaborationofcouplingschemesforoptimumcogenerationofelectricityandwaterandbyexploringtheuniquecapabilitiesoftheinnovativenuclearreactorsanddesalinationtechnologies. • Verificationthattheintegratedsystemdesigndoesnotadverselyaffectnuclearreactorsafety. • Developmentofcodesandmethodsforanobjectiveeconomicassessmentofthecompetitivenessandsustainabilityofproposedoptionsthroughcomparison,inEuropeanconditions,withfossilenergybasedsystems. Resultsobtainedsofarseemtobequiteencouragingasregardstheeconomicalviabilityofnucleardesalinationoptions. Thus,forexample,specificdesalinationcosts($/m3ofdesaltedwater)fornuclearsystems,suchastheAP-600andtheFrenchPWR-900(referencebasecase),coupledtomultipleeffectdistillation(MED)orthereverseosmosis(RO)processes,are30–60%lowerthanthedesalinationcostsforfossilenergybasedsystems,usingpulverisedcoalandnaturalgaswithcombinedcycle,atlowdiscountratesandrecommendedfossilfuelprices.Eveninthemostunfavourablescenariosfornuclearenergy(discountrate=10%,lowfossilfuelcosts)desalinationcostswiththenuclearreactorsare7–20%lower,dependinguponthedesalinationcapacities.Furthermore,withtheadvancedcouplingschemes,utilisingwasteheatfromnuclearreactors,thegainsinspecificdesalinationcostsofnuclearsystemsareincreasedbyanother2–15%,evenwithoutsystemanddesignoptimisation.ApreliminaryevaluationshowsthatdesalinationcostswiththeGT-MHR,coupledtoaMEDprocess,couldstillbemuchlowerthantheabovenuclearoptionsfordesaltingcapacities≤43000m3perday.Thisisbecauseitsdesignintrinsicallyprovides“virtuallyfree”heatatidealtemperaturesfordesalination(80–100°C).