CHENNAI: With the shelf-life of the world’s largest seawater hybrid desalination plant that is attached to the nuclear power station in Kalpakkam ending in the next four to five years, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is planning to add two more desalination plants in the neighbourhood to meet the demands of the residents as well as the nuclear plant.
One of the two new plants would generate 2 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) through reverse osmosis at the Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant (NDDP), while the other will produce 2 Million Litre per Day (MLD) through multi-effect distillation at the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) in Kalpakkam. BARC has already sought clearance from the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNSCZMA) for the plants. The cost of the two proposals, which were cleared by the Department of Atomic Energy is estimated at Rs 240 crore.
The existing desalination plant was designed to produce 45 lakh litres of potable water a day using thermal energy and 18 lakh litres a day through reverse osmosis. The project further aimed to demonstrate safe and economical production of good quality water through nuclear desalination of seawater; establish indigenous capability in the design, manufacturing, and operation of such plants; generate necessary design inputs for large-scale desalination plants; and serve as a demo project to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
The thermal process used by the BARC to produce fresh water is also called multi-stage flash (MSF) technology, while the reverse osmosis process. A nuclear desalination plant is a facility installed in a nuclear power station to use seawater, steam and electrical power generated from the reverse osmosis process.
Due to the increasing levels of activity and the addition of new facilities, the demand for freshwater has been increasing. Further, the existing seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant at the NDDP campus has completed more than 20 years of its 25-year shelf life.
An expert committee has recommended the project to the state coastal zone management authority. It involves no modification on existing intake and outfall pipelines and hence would require no work to be carried out along the seashore or offshore areas.