Nuclear power for salt water conversion

Pressure on water resources is resulting in manycountries from population growth, rising living standards, and the increasing demands of industrialization; there is. in consequence, a corresponding interest in the possibilities of large-scale desalting of water. The application of nuclear energy to desalting is being studied by IAEA, with special reference to the needs of developing countries. A number of technical and economic studies have been undertaken by other organizations in several countries. The desalting of salt water by distillation or other processes has long been familiar, but usually only on a small scale and at relatively high cost. The principal question today is whether much more economical results can be obtained by a great increase in the scale of operations, and by enlisting the most modern techniques. The matter is of most immediate interest to the arid regions. It was as a result of a request from Tunisia, following the 1962 General Conference, that the Agency undertook a series of studies. In March 1963 a group of experts met in Vienna under the chairmanship of Mr. J. K. Carr, Under-Secretary, US Department of the Interior, to discuss how the Agency could best help developing countries to use nuclear energy for desalting. This was followed by the visit of an Agency staff member to Tunisia with a UN mission and by the convening of a further expert panel in September 1963. This meeting was under the chairmanship of Mr. Carr and of Mr. J. T. Ramey, Commissioner, US Atomic Energy Commission. Eleven countries were represented, as well as the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization. The panel examined the technical situation, including conversion methods and reactor systems.