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Pakistan embarks on nuclear
desalination
19 January 2007
A
thermal seawater desalination plant will be coupled to the Karachi nuclear
power plant as a "first step" towards the employment of large scale
production of potable water which has "socio-economic significance" for
Pakistan.
The
country's Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has teamed up with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to undertake a Coordinated
Research Project.
The result of the work will be the Nuclear
Desalination Demonstration Plant (NDDP), which will use extraction steam
from one of the Karachi nuclear plant's (Kanupp's) feed heaters to
desalinate seawater. The existing intake structure of Kanupp will be used
to pump sea water to the new plant. The NDDP should produce 1600 cubic
meters of potable water each day for domestic and industrial
use.
The PAEC says that the project is "progressing well," that the
design engineering phase has been completed and the manufacturing of the
plant equipment has already begun.
The IAEA has provided an
"expert mission" to the populous south Asian country to assist in
developing technical specifications and give advice on safety issues
related to coupling the plants' systems.
Kanupp is a Canadian
pressurised heavy water reactor originally rated at 125
MWe.
Further
information
Pakistan
Atomic Energy
Commission
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