China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), through its subsidiary China Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation (CZEC) has announced plans to supply desalinization reactors internationally. Known as ‘Green World Water’, the product will be marketed in partnership with US firm Alternative Energy Holdings Inc. (AEHI). It will be available to order in the summer of 2010.
The reactors that power the desalinization units will come in 650 and 1100MWe sizes and can be tailored to produce water and electricity at a desired ratio. The designs are evolved from Westinghouse reactors currently operating in the USA, and were further developed by the French before being built in China.
The partnership and reactor design was an idea by AEHI CEO Don Gillispie, who began working with CNNC's subsidiary on the project over a year ago. While there have been some small units built in Asia, mostly for domestic consumption, a larger commercial version was not readily available to the world.
"I had the idea many years ago to build and market a desalinization unit powered by a commercial nuclear reactor, but when I first met with CNNC, the design was still in my head, so I sketched it onto a piece of paper. Since then, it has evolved into a design that can solve water problems around the globe," said Gillispie.
In a statement AEHI said: “the product will be the largest, cleanest, most efficient, most cost-effective converter of salt water to drinking water on the market.”
Several countries have already begun contacting AEHI about the desalinization reactor, and the company says it hopes to have several projects underway within a year.
"These deals are huge for AEHI, but they will also provide a tremendous benefit for many developing countries as over three billion people, half the world's population, don't have clean drinking water, according to National Geographic Magazine. These reactors will solve water issues, but they can also create needed power and produce thousands of jobs where they are desperately needed," Gillispie added.
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