Nuclear desalination in Israel

Israel is particularly suited for the erection and operation of large nuclear dual-purpose plants for the production of both electric power and desalted sea water, the main reasons for this being: the lack of water and lack of natural energy resources, the existence of interconnected water and electricity grids with high system load factors, the existence of an underground storage capacity, experience in desalination techniques, etc. The main problems are the small size of the power system and the costs of desalted water. A review is made of the main nuclear plant studies carried out in Israel for the production of electricity alone as well as for the combined production of water and power. Two new desalination processes developed in Israel and suitable as nuclear heat sources are presented. (FR)