Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Journal of Energy Horizon, sa.1, ss.10-20, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)
This study investigates the integration of nuclear energy into seawater desalination systems to achieve sustainable freshwater production. Nuclear reactors present significant potential as reliable, continuous, and low-carbon energy sources suitable for both thermal desalination processes, such as Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) , Multi-Stage Flash (MSF), and membrane-based technologies like Reverse Osmosis (RO). The analysis employs the Desalination Economic Evaluation Program (DEEP), developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as a techno-economic assessment tool to evaluate desalination systems powered by various energy sources. The comparative assessment between nuclear- and coal-based configurations highlights that the nuclear option offers lower production costs and higher energy efficiency under identical operating conditions. These findings demonstrate the potential of nuclear-powered desalination systems as a cost-effective and sustainable solution for future freshwater and energy generation. Nuclear desalination processes are found to be competitive with current fossil fuel-based desalination programs, with associated life cycle carbon emissions of nuclear-driven options being two to three orders of magnitude less than that of the fossil fuel-based route [1].