The Russian nuclear industry is now offering a new product: desalination facilities integrated with large-scale Russian-designed nuclear power plants.
Dzhomart Aliev, CEO of Rusatom Overseas said: "According to our estimates, a desalination facility at a large capacity nuclear power plant with VVER pressurised water reactors has a significant potential in foreign markets."
"Such desalination facilities can produce up to 170,000 cubic metres of fresh water per day from one nuclear power unit. We pay great attention to expansion of the product range, including desalination facilities integrated with small modular reactor plants and floating nuclear power plants."
State nuclear energy corporation Rosatom is focusing on multiple effect distillation (MED technologies) which copy natural processes of evaporation and condensation of seawater. Just like other desalination technologies, MED technologies require significant amount of energy, and stable operation of desalination facilities depends on security of energy supply.
In the past Russia has supplied a nuclear desalination facility operated by a BN-350 fast reactor to the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan on the Caspian sea, which produced up to 120,000 cubic metres of fresh water a day.
In February 2015, Russia signed a project development agreement with Egypt to work on the design for a nuclear plant with desalination complex. Iran is also considering two nuclear desalination facilities, according to an agreement signed with Russia in November 2014.
Photo: Illustration of the AES-2006 nuclear plant (Source: Rosatom)
