- #1
Arthur R.
- 4
- 0
In 2005 the American Nuclear Society endorsed the use of nuclear energy for desalinisation -- see http://www.ans.org/pi/ps/docs/ps62.pdf
Would there be any advantages in terms of safety and / or cost to using nuclear fission to desalinate seawater (or perform some other non-electricity-generation process) rather than as a source of power for the electricity grid ? I ask this in light of California's current drought and fresh water vulnerabilities world-wide.
Here are some topics for comment or exploration relating to the use of nuclear energy for desalinisation excluding power generation for the grid.
1) Seawater will likely have to be pumped some distance to the plant, given concerns about nuclear plants being located in flooding zones. Such concerns are not as great for desalinization plants using fossil or renewable energy sources.
2) Plant will _not_ have to operate in a way that supports the needs of the electrical grid -- this might be an advantage in method, safety, and cost of operation.
2) The most obvious desalinisation method would be using heat of fission to distill fresh water from seawater. Other methods might include the generation of steam to produce mechanical energy that is the motive force for vacuum distillation equipment; the generation of electricity to support an electrochemical method of removing salt from seawater; the use of radioactivity to drive or facilitate a chemical process with fresh water as the end product (I don't know whether these last two are physically possible or not).
Many thanks.
Cheers,
Arthur R.
Would there be any advantages in terms of safety and / or cost to using nuclear fission to desalinate seawater (or perform some other non-electricity-generation process) rather than as a source of power for the electricity grid ? I ask this in light of California's current drought and fresh water vulnerabilities world-wide.
Here are some topics for comment or exploration relating to the use of nuclear energy for desalinisation excluding power generation for the grid.
1) Seawater will likely have to be pumped some distance to the plant, given concerns about nuclear plants being located in flooding zones. Such concerns are not as great for desalinization plants using fossil or renewable energy sources.
2) Plant will _not_ have to operate in a way that supports the needs of the electrical grid -- this might be an advantage in method, safety, and cost of operation.
2) The most obvious desalinisation method would be using heat of fission to distill fresh water from seawater. Other methods might include the generation of steam to produce mechanical energy that is the motive force for vacuum distillation equipment; the generation of electricity to support an electrochemical method of removing salt from seawater; the use of radioactivity to drive or facilitate a chemical process with fresh water as the end product (I don't know whether these last two are physically possible or not).
Many thanks.
Cheers,
Arthur R.
Last edited: