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NUCLEAR DESALINATION PROGRAMME IN TUNISIA Hedi Ben Kraiem Centre National des Sciences et Technologies Nucl�aires (CNSTN) BP 204 1080 Tunis Carthage Tunisia In Tunisia, The supply of drinking water for north is guaranteed from surface water resources. These resources will satisfy the water demand in this region until the year 2010. In the south of Tunisia, the water supply comes from local subsurface resources, including the lake water. Maximum exploitation of theses lakes, has already been reached. Therefore, non-conventional resources such as desalination have become unavoidable if the water quality is to be improved and the resources are to be maximised. The needs of this region will reach 80 000 m3/d the year 2010 and 120 000 m3/day at 2020. In recent years, conventional desalination has increasingly been used throughout the world to produce potable water from brackish groundwater and seawater, to improve the quality of fresh water for drinking and industrial use. However, nuclear desalination remains an idea on the drawing boards. In this paper, we will present the water situation in Tunisia, and the steps that are being taken to overcome the shortages in water from brakkish water desalination to the feasibility study for nuclear desalination of seawater. This study will include potable water needs and electricity supply until 2020. Cogeneration of electricity (400 MWe) and desalted water (120 000 m3/day) by nuclear power plan seems to be realistic. A specific site for this study was identified.