Abu Dhabi:
The UAE’s water and energy security will receive a major boost if the desalination plants can be linked to nuclear power, according to an expert.
Nuclear desalination is a well-known technology and the number of plants currently operating across the world strongly indicates the advantage, according to Dr Yousuf Shatilla, Dean of Academic Programs, and Professor - Mechanical Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.
The remarks followed the announcement by the editorial board of the prestigious international journal Desalination, naming Dr Shatilla and Dr Ebrahim Khamis, Nuclear Power Technology Development Section, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as co-Guest Editors for a special issue dedicated to ‘Nuclear Desalination’.
Dr Nidal Hilal, Editor-in-Chief of Desalination, has announced that both luminaries have accepted the offer for the special edition that will be published in March 2014. This special issue will be open by the journal on 1 November 2012.
Dr Shatilla said: “Since the creation of modern UAE, most of the water needs have been met through seawater desalination. The UAE is no stranger to the world of desalination as some of the largest desalination plants in the world are right here in our own backyard. Nuclear desalination is basically the same as conventional desalination, except for the source of energy, which comes from a nuclear power plant. Nuclear desalination plants have been deployed in various parts of the world ranging from developed to developing countries with commanding success. This gives confidence that such an undertaking, if implemented, will definitely be a huge addition to UAE’s water and energy security.”
Dr Hilal, who is also Professor in Nano-membranology and Water Technologies at Masdar Institute, said Desalination journal will publish a special issue on nuclear desalination in 2014 and has chosen Dr Khamis from the Department of Nuclear Energy at the IAEA and Dr Shatilla from Masdar Institute, who has a doctorate of Science in Nuclear Engineering from MIT and is well known in this field.
