Technical and economic evaluation of nuclear seawater desalination systems

The IAEA Cogeneration/Desalination Cost Model spreadsheets were used for the economic evaluation of sea water desalination plants coupled with small and medium size nuclear reactors developed in RDIPE. The results of calculations have shown that the cost of potable water is equal to or even below 1$/m3. This is very close to similar indices of the best fossil driven desalination plants. For remote and difficult-to-access regions, where the transportation share contributes significantly to the product water cost at fossil plants, the nuclear power sources of these reactor types are cost-efficient and can successfully compete with fossil power sources. (author)