Water scarcity is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing challenges facing Nigeria. As urbanisation accelerates, the demand for fresh water rises, while natural water sources dwindle due to climate change, pollution, and inefficient management. Without sustainable solutions, millions of Nigerians will struggle to access clean drinking water, threatening public health, economic stability, and overall quality of life. Among the possible solutions, nuclear desalination stands out as a reliable, environmentally friendly, and scalable technology that could help quench Nigeria’s growing thirst. Africa is already experiencing a severe water crisis, with projections indicating that by 2050, at least 24 major cities across 15 African nations will face acute shortages. Nigeria is among the most vulnerable, with urban populations hit by such shortages expected to grow by 277%. The challenge is clear: the country needs sustainable, large-scale water purification solutions, and seawater desalination has emerged as a viable answer. While traditional desalination methods rely on fossil fuels, nuclear desalination offers a more sustainable approach, ensuring consistent fresh water production with minimal environmental impact.
The most widely used desalination approach is reverse osmosis (RO), a process that forces seawater through specialised membranes to separate salt and contaminants. RO is a well-established technology but it has major limitations: it requires a significant amount of electricity, produces large amounts of brine (highly concentrated saltwater that must be disposed of safely), and its membranes frequently degrade leading to high maintenance costs.
Another method is thermal desalination, which mimics the natural water cycle by heating seawater to produce steam which is then condensed into fresh water. This approach is effective but extremely energy-intensive, making it impractical in regions with unstable electricity supplies. Some countries have experimented with renewable energy-powered desalination, using solar or wind energy to drive the process. While this reduces the carbon footprint, it introduces another issue – intermittency. Solar desalination plants only function effectively when sunlight is available while wind-powered plants depend on fluctuating wind speeds. Given Nigeria’s existing struggles with electricity reliability, depending on these sources alone is not a viable solution. Fossil-fuel-powered desalination remains the most common large-scale method but it carries environmental concerns. Burning coal, oil, or natural gas to power desalination plants releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere contributing to global warming and climate change. Additionally, the cost of fossil fuels fluctuates, making long-term water production expensive and unpredictable.
Nuclear desalination, on the other hand, addresses many of these challenges. Unlike fossil-fuel-powered plants, nuclear desalination produces no carbon emissions, ensuring an environmentally sustainable approach. Unlike solar or wind-powered desalination, it provides a stable and uninterrupted water supply. And unlike reverse osmosis, it does not rely on fragile membranes that require constant replacement. These advantages make nuclear desalination an attractive option for a country like Nigeria, which requires a large-scale, reliable, and cost-effective water solution. Nuclear desalination is not a theoretical concept – it has been successfully implemented in multiple countries, demonstrating its feasibility and economic viability. Kazakhstan, India, and Japan collectively have over 120 reactor-years of experience with nuclear desalination, proving that the technology can reliably supply fresh water to populations in need.
Kazakhstan’s BN-350 reactor in Aktau was the world’s first nuclear desalination plant. Commissioned in 1973, it supplied 120,000 cubic meters of fresh water daily, enough to meet the needs of a city of half a million people. To put this into perspective, if an adult requires two to three litres of drinking water per day, the BN-350 reactor could have provided water for up to 48 million people – an example of the scale at which nuclear desalination can operate. India has also successfully incorporated nuclear desalination into its energy infrastructure. The country operates a nuclear desalination plant at the Kalpakkam Nuclear Complex which supplies fresh water to nearby communities. Japan, a country with limited natural water resources, has relied on nuclear desalination for decades. Several Japanese nuclear power plants incorporate desalination systems to provide fresh water for industrial and domestic use.
Other countries have begun exploring nuclear desalination as a strategic solution for water scarcity. South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have all invested in research and pilot projects to integrate nuclear reactors with desalination plants. In the Middle East, where fresh water is even more scarce than in Nigeria, countries recognise that nuclear technology provides a long-term solution to water shortages. To implement nuclear desalination successfully, Nigeria must foster international partnerships with nations and companies that have expertise in this technology. One recent example of such collaboration is the 2023 agreement between Morocco’s WATER AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS and Russia’s nuclear corporation Rosatom. The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on desalination, water treatment, and purification projects. Currently, Rosatom is constructing a desalination complex alongside the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey. Similar partnerships could accelerate Nigeria’s adoption of nuclear desalination, providing the expertise and infrastructure needed to address its water crisis.
Nigeria stands at a critical juncture where action is necessary to secure the country’s future water supply. With urbanisation rates soaring and climate change exacerbating water shortages, traditional solutions will no longer suffice. Nuclear desalination offers a proven, scalable, and sustainable way to address this crisis, ensuring that fresh water is available for millions of Nigerians. The challenge now is to embrace this technology, invest in the necessary infrastructure, and build the partnerships required to bring nuclear desalination to Nigeria’s shores.
