INSIDETECHNICAL CO-OPERATIONInternational Atomic Energy Agency

June 1996 Vol. 2, No. 2

CONTENTS: Harnessing the fire belowHarnessing the fire 1

Tapping the treasure 1 S ~ \ n opposite shores of theI lPacific, in what is called the

Capital replenishment 2 V^Circum-Pacific Belt of Fire,El Salvador and the Philippines are

Isotopes and water 5 steadily developing their geother-mal resources to produce elec-

In brief 7 triciry. Most countries within thisvast girdle of ancient volcanic

Parched plains wait 8 activity are endowed with geo-thermal reservoirs — bubblingcauldrons containing fluids several

^ ^ ^ B B ^ ^ ^ i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ B ^ ^ B times hotter than boiling water.This dry steam and hot water are

Yi ry t\% & potential sources of high pressure£5 lAlC to drive turbines and generate

power.

treasurebeneath theSahara

North Africa is a vast aridzone where shortages ofwater affect all economic

activity and the health and well-being of millions of people. Inmost countries, water is drawn byhand or by versions of theArchimedes screw from shallowwells of groundwater resources.As populations rise and demandincreases these sources havebecome insufficient.

A new source of groundwater is acomplex system of water-holdingrock expanses located deepunderground. Water can be

Geothermal energy has manyadvantages, especially forcountries that spend scarce hardcurrency to import fossil fuels forthermal power plants. It cuts theimport bills for a start. Being anindigenous source, it also offersgreater energy independence.Prefabricated modular systemsnow make it easier to install andstart-up new plants. Anotheradvantage is that geothermalplants can operate year round andare not vulnerable to drought, as

A technician from El Salvador'sHydroelectrical Commission (CEL)sampling a geothermal well.(Credit:]. GerardolIAEA)

hydro is, or fuel supply delays.Properly managed reservoirs canbe sustained indefinitely.

continued page 3

extracted by drilling boreholesseveral hundred metres down andpumping water to the surface. Butexperience worldwide shows thatthis is often a gamble and can evenbe counter-productive: expensivewells can run dry; the water canbring up unwelcome salts; and

intensive extraction can causesurface subsidence. Controlledand sustainable management ofthe aquifer systems needs a greatdeal of sophisticated analysis.

continued page 4

Capital replenishment in Venezuela

Caracas is confronted with acomplex water crisis. On theone hand an acute shortage

and on the other a glut of unwantedwater that has to be carried awayand discarded. Water supply is cutoff in every district of the city forhours on some days and all day onothers. Furthermore, no piped waterreaches the crowded outskirts. Eventhe Water Ministry is not exempt.Each day the mass mediaannounce the names of districts,even specific hospitals and

some five million today, anddwellings sprawl even up theslopes of the basin. The supplynetwork was hard put to cope withincreasing water demand evenbefore reservoir levels began to fallafter very low rainfall in northernVenezuela for a number of recentyears.

Ironically, there is massive leakagefrom the concrete pipes laid belowground that bring water from thereservoirs down to the city. Further-

Tattkers supply water to thirsty districts in Caracas.(Credit: H.F. Meyer/IAEA)

schools, that are to receive pipedwater for that day. "OperationHelp is delivering 40 tankerloadsof water (about 1 million litres) tothe district of Sucre where nowater was received in a 20-dayperiod," lamented a recent andtypical news story.

Until the early 1960s Caracas,which lies in a shallow valleysome 1000 metres above sea level,received domestic water suppliesfrom shallow groundwater. In the1950s and 1960s rainfed reservoirswere built on nearby higherground to supply the city's underone million people with treatedwater. Since then, however, the

2 population has increased rapidly to

more, the natural drainage of thegroundwater was blocked whenthe nearby Guaire River was"canalized" some years ago. Withnowhere to go but upward, thegroundwater, swollen by theleakage, has now risen so close tothe surface that the undergroundrailway as well as the foundationsof other buildings are threatened.This water can no longer be usedby the thirsty population becauseit has reached levels where it iscontaminated with sewage andother pollutants. So in many partsof the thirsting city the sound ofpumps attest to the ceaselessextraction of groundwater; only tobe discarded far away.Since mid-1994 an IAEA

Technical Co-operation projecthas been helping to resolve thatpart of the problem whichinvolves the groundwater —using isotope techniques toprecisely identify the quantity,flows and quality of water indeeper parts of the aquifer systembelow the city. The primary aim isto find new water sources to makeup for at least part of the currentshortfall of 260,000 cubic metresper day. A possible spin-off is thatdeep-water extraction methodsbeing investigated may lower thewater table sufficiently for thecostly and wasteful pumping tobe halted.

If the aquifer system is to be used,at least during dry spells or forlimited local supply, a number ofparameters must be established.How much water is held in thesystem? What is its rate of dischargeand recharge? From where does theinflow come? How pure is the waterin different parts of the system?What are the processes andpathways of pollution? Conven-tional hydrogeological techniquescannot provide definitive answers.Isotopes as tracers, coupled withgeochemical techniques, can do sowith remarkable accuracy and speed.

By the end of 1995 the waterauthority had 'mapped' the aquifersystem — described as a verticalstructure in two sub-systems withhorizontally distinct areas — andalso identified and characterized itssources of recharge. It seems thatwater from some specific depthscould substantially reduce thedrinking water shortfall. Otherareas of the aquifer system couldprovide water good enough forirrigation, industrial, and otherneeds.

The project is transfering tech-nology and knowhow to maintainconstant quality control ofextracted groundwater. It will

continued page 7

Harnessing the fire (from page 1)

A key benefit in these times ofconcern about climate change andgreenhouse gases is that energycould be exploited in anenvironmentally friendly regime.Station managers must make surethat the whole watershed inwhich a plant is sited is protectedbecause that is the source offreshwater that keeps thereservoirs alive. All the extractedwater can be re-injected into thereservoir, rather than dischargedon the surface. The Philippinesopted for geothermal, despitehigh capital costs, because itwould cut projected carbonemissions to 5-10% compared to,for example, coal-fired electricityplants. The choice was endorsed bythe Global Environment Facilitywhen it recently provided US $30million (the maximum possibleunder its rules) for a new geo-thermal plant in the Philippines.

The technology to exploit geother-mal energy has been applied fornearly 100 years. The first geo-thermal plant, in Larderello, Italy,has produced electricity since 1904.But it is underused worldwide.Some 18 countries use the energy,but the power generated is only asmall fraction of national produc-tion. USA, the world's largestelectricity producer, generatesover 2200 megawatts of electricity(MWe). Other major producersinclude Mexico (700+ MWe), Italy(500+) and Japan (200+). The realhindrance to developing geother-mal has been that key data, forsustainable and environmentallysafe management, have beenvirtually impossible to ascertain.How much steam and hot water isin the geothermal reservoir? At whatrate is the reservoir replenished?Where does that water come from?At around US $2 million apiece,drilling wells is an expensive part ofdeveloping geothermal energy; sowhere is it best to drill?

Isotope hydrology techniques canhelp answer such questions very

precisely and quickly. Radio-isotopes used as tracers can betracked deep underground. Stableisotopes can reveal directions,pathways and rates of waterflow inand out of reservoirs. These power-ful tools can also show where todrill, and how best to feedextracted water back into thereservoir thus ensuring sustainableuse of the resource and that theenvironment is not harmed by thewaste water. Recent IAEA technicalco-operation projects have helpedEthiopia, Greece, China, Guatemala,Indonesia, Mexico and Nicaragua todevelop capability to exploit geo-thermal resources by transferringknowhow and equipment forapplying isotopic techniques.

El Salvador and the Philippines arealready harnessing geothermalheat. The IAEA is supportingactivities because of the substantialcommitment and high prioritygiven to geothermal energy in thenational economic developmentprogrammes.

The Philippines is already theworld's second largest geothermalelectricity producer. Most of itselectricity is still generated byburning imported oil, but geo-

Credit: ]. Gerardo/IAEA

thermal's share is now 24% (1,036-MWe) and climbing. A further 680-MWe is expected within three yearsfrom ongoing field development,and other potential fields beingexplored could provide 2500-plusMWe more by about the turn of thecentury, making it the top geo-thermal producer in the world.

El Salvador also ranks among theworld's top 10 geothermal energyproducers, though its share isonly 14% of national powerproduction, which stands at 900-MWe. The field in Ahuachapanhas operated since 1975 and nowgenerates 58-MWe from 32 wells. Anew field, in Berlin, began in 1992and produces 5-MWe from 10 wells.With electricity demand soaringat an average of 9% a year sincethe economic reconstructionprogramme began in 1992,thermal power from imported oiland gas provides about 40% ofthe country's total power. Hydropower provides 46%; its furtherexpansion is limited, however,because the only large river hasbeen almost fully exploited.

The national plan is to doublegeothermal production in the nextfive years. At least $180 million of anew $215 million loan from theInter-American DevelopmentBank will be spent on developinggeothermal sources — 15 newwells in Ahuachapan, 18 in Berlin,and exploration elsewhere. Thegovernment expects to cut fossilfuel imports by 20% within twoyears, a savings of some US $32.8million annually, and progressive-ly reduce them further. Some225,000 additional households alsowill receive electricity. Overall, theModel Project is helping toimprove national capabilities tointerpret isotope and geochemicaldata critical for long-term geo-thermal exploration and genera-tion. These stronger capabilitieswill enable El Salvador to provideanalytical services to othercountries of the region.

Tapping the treasure (from page 1)

Many hands at work. Acommon sight at shallow water wells in the Sahararegion. (Credit: Carnemark/World Bank)

In 1995, IAEA Technical Co-operationstarted a four-year Model Projectto assemble the basic data and toprovide isotope technology tonine North African countries —Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya,Mali, Morocco, Niger, Senegal andSudan — so they could bettermanage their groundwater re-sources. Egypt, Ethiopia, Moroccoand Senegal — with urgentproblems to resolve — are in thefirst phase (1995/96) of the ModelProject. The other five countrieswill join in the second phasebeginning in 1997.

• Egypt now depends on the Nilefor almost all its water. The Nilevalley is overcrowded already, sothe Model Project aims to"reclaim" fringes of thesurrounding Sahara. There isalready some settlement in Qenaand Esna, in the northwest. Canthe shallow Nile aquifer sustainsome 50,000 hectares and twomillion people?

• The drought prone Moyaleregion (some 45,000 km2) ofEthiopia is home to three million

people and has one of the largestcattle concentrations in Africa. Canaquifers below assure a stablesupply of water for them?

• South of the Atlas mountains insouthwest Morocco, half a millionpeople precariously farm 15,000hectares in the plains of Tafilaltand Guelmim with supplies froma few ephemeral rivers. Couldnearby aquifers provide them withample and good quality water?

• In the far west of the Continent,70% of the water supply to Sene-gal's capital, Dakar (population: 2million), is drawn from coastalaquifers. Daily demand is 250,000cubic metres. During dry periods,the estimated shortfall is as highas 100,000 cubic metres a day.How much more can aquifersprovide, without causing salt-water intrusion?

These are the principal questionswhich the first phase of the ModelProject is addressing by fieldstudies and analyses of the iso-topic composition of local water.

Three isotopes of specialinterest to hydrology aredeuterium (H-2), tritium(H-3) and oxygen-18 (O-18).Because they are heavierthan the two other isotopes(H-l and O-16, respectively),water vapour rising from theocean to form rainclouds hasfewer H-2, H-3, and O-18isotopes than seawater.When the clouds releasetheir water, more of theseisotopes are rained out first;and moisture remaining inthe cloud, to be shed later,will have relatively fewer ofthem. Coastal rain is thereforeisotopically different inlandand different again inmountains.Other changes in the ratios ofH-2/H-1 and O-18/O-16(depending mostly on temp-erature) occur as rainwatermoves back to the oceans invarious ways, depths andspeeds. In the process wateracquires telltale isotopicfingerprints' in different envi-ronments, and analysis of asample can reveal its 'age',origin and how it got there.Isotope hydrology techniquesmeasure the ratios of anumber of other elementalisotopes, i.e., helium, carbon,nitrogen, sulphur and chlorineto aid a variety ofinvestigations.

Preliminary results in Egypt appearto be promising. It has beenascertained that the shallow Nileaquifer is being replenished by thegigantic Nubian Sandstoneaquifer which lies adjacent to itand at a deeper level. Ongoingstudies expect to establish the rateand quantity of replenishment.The fact that the NubianSandstone aquifer contains'palaeowater' which has not been

continued page 6

Isotopes and water management

We call the Earth theblue planet. Photo-graphs from space

show a characteristic seennowhere else in the visibleuniverse. Water is the foun-dation of all life on Earth. TheEarth's surface is two-thirdswater and experts calculate thatthe volume is nearly 1.5 billioncubic kilometers. But only abouttwo per cent is freshwater, andnearly all of that is locked inglaciers, ice caps and deepgroundwater reservoirs. Only anestimated 2000 cubic kilometresis readily available to meethuman needs. This has beenadequate to sustain life on Earth,but global demand for water isdoubling every 21 years ac-cording to the Food and Agri-culture Organization (FAO). Asindustrial, agricultural and dom-estic pollution threatens finitesupplies, water is becoming anincreasingly precious resource.

Recent history has witnessedconflict between nations overrights and access to fossil fuelresources. Such conflicts couldalso arise in the future over watershortages since many countriesin the world lack readilyavailable or abundant waterresources to meet their needs. Anincreasing emphasis in IAEAtechnical co-operation activitiesfocuses on helping countries (andsupporting regional co-opera-tion) to investigate and managewater resources using isotopehydrology. Isotopic techniquesprovide an important analyticaltool for those responsible formanaging natural resources. TheAgency has established adedicated isotope hydrology lab-oratory in Vienna that supportsnational development activitiesin natural resources manage-ment. Usually, TC projects deve-lop experience and knowhow

Credit: Carnemark/World Bank

through training, expert adviceand the provision of equipment toimprove local infrastructure andbuild capacity to study water re-sources using tracer isotopes.

This issue of INSIDE TC isabout using isotope techniquesto efficiently and sustainablymanage the exploitation andconservation of water. Isotopesare extremely powerful tools forinvestigating many areas ofnatural science. Most elementsare made up of different iso-topes which are virtually iden-tical to one another chemically,but are of different atomic mass.Our indispensable water mole-cule is made up mostly of twoisotopes — hydrogen (H-1) andoxygen (O-16). But along withthese 'abundant' ones are 'rare'isotopes, occurring in relativelylow and variable concentrations(H-2 and O-18). These rareisotopes permit a broad range ofhydrological investigations.

Isotope hydrology has evolvedinto a multi-disciplinary field: Inexploiting geothermal energyresources, isotope techniqueshelp to define the regions of highheat flow and the origins offluids. Deep wells drilled todepths up to 3 km tap thereservoir to extract steam for

transport to a power plant; Ininvestigating sewage pollution ingroundwater, boron isotopes canbe used to track and measurepollution and contaminationpathways. The rapidly increasingconcentration of carbon dioxide(CO2) and methane (CH4) in theatmosphere may be leading toglobal warming as a result of thegreenhouse effect'. Isotope tech-niques are also proving to be aneffective tool in unravelling thiscomplex environmental pheno-menon through subatomic ana-lysis of carbon isotopes todetermine what happens togreenhouse gases in the atmos-phere. The isotopic compositionof water can provide informationabout past climates and enableexperts to monitor and compareglobal warming phenomena andto assess climate change goingback tens of thousands of years.Isotopic techniques are also beingused to help explain environ-mental phenomena such as therise in the sea level of the CaspianSea. The next issue of INSIDE TCwill look into these related ap-plications of isotopic techniquesthat support environmental man-agement of natural resources.

Over the last ten years the IAEAhas supported some 160 technicalco-operation projects amountingto $18.8 million in technologytransfer and knowhow to help 63countries develop national infra-structure in isotope hydrologyapplications. Over 550 studentshave been trained in isotopehydrology to develop indigenousskills to apply and analyzeisotopic investigations for naturalresource management. ThisINSIDE TC describes a few pro-jects that are making a measur-able contribution to improvingthe quality of life for people incommunities at various corners ofthe globe.

Tapping the treasure (from page 4)

actively recharged since the lastrainy period some 6000 years ago,is not regarded as a problem. Thisaquifer covers an area of tens ofhundreds of square kilometres,and is the largest known aquiferin the world. It is unlikely to bedepleted by extraction for thereclaimed land area. The study isexpected to determine how muchand at what rate Nile aquiferwater can be withdrawn withoutunwanted consequences.

The news is mixed for Morocco.Isotope data have disprovedearlier conventional hydrologicalindications that the aquifer in thenorth of the Tafilalt area is beingreplenished. It is shown to bepalaeowater, and imprudent ex-ploitation will mine it dry. Butisotopic analyses show that twoother systems, in the south of theTafilalt Plain and in the GuelmimPlain have been replenished byrecent rainfall. In May, isotopestudies began in the unsaturatedzone of the southern Tafilalt basin(through which rainwaterpercolates down to the aquifer) toquantify recharge and discharge,as well as possible contaminationof the groundwater.

In Senegal, authorities hope thatproject related activities will enablegreater withdrawal of groundwater,sufficient to make up 70% of thecurrent shortfall. The focus of theproject is to quantify how muchcould be extracted without threatof seawater intrusion into theaquifers, and to develop tools forprudent management of theresource. Senegal aleady hasexpertise in the use of isotopes inunsaturated zone investigations.The expertise will support theinvestigations in Morocco.

Ethiopia's Moyale regionalinvestigations are identifying thereplenishment characteristics ofthe aquifers and very probably therate of recharge as well. This basicassessment is vital for good water

Project trainees from Algeria, Morocco and Senegal conduct on-sitechemical analysis of water beside a rural well in the Dakar peninsula.(Credit K. Froelich/IAEA)

Rainwater that percolates into the ground usually makes itsway back to the seas from where it came. Some of it is takenup by plants and eventually transpired into the atmosphere.

Some reaches lakes and eventually evaporates. Some strikes a riverand quickly returns to the sea. The rest inches along at variousdepths below the soil surface. Large pockets of this slow movingwater saturate multiple layers of rock. These 'saturated zones', alsocalled aquifers, often receive fresh rainfall fast enough to remainsaturated. Water can be sustainably extracted from them in variousways from shallow wells to deep boreholes, depending on the rateof replenishment. Some very deep reservoirs received their waterduring perhaps prehistoric periods of heavy rainfall thousands ofyears ago. Unreplenished by new rains these 'palaeowaters' areseeping to the seas too, but so slowly that it may be millions of yearsbefore they are dry. Meanwhile they are 'ageing' and can be 'dated'by naturally occurring radioisotopes such as carbon-14 to establishwhether or not the aquifer is a finite resource.

resource management and cannotbe derived by other means. Underthe project, 14 borehole sites weregeophysically surveyed and sixnew wells have been drilled so far.

Finding new water sources is onlyvaluable if the resources aremanaged well. The establishment ofgood management practices is acentral objective of the ModelProject.

Toward this end, the developmentof computer models as manage-ment tools began early in 1996 witha seminar in Senegal and aworkshop in Morocco. Further

training and development ofsoftware based on project findingswill be completed by the end of thisyear.

This computer software is patternedon that of the United StatesGeological Survey (USGS) andAustralia's Commonwealth Scienti-fic and Industrial Research Or-ganization (CSIRO), respectively.Specialists who were involved indeveloping the USGS and CSIROmodels have been helpful inguiding the project work andproviding necessary training.

In Brief: Updates of stories and news events

Progress in seawaterdesalination

With over 1.4 billion cubickilometres of seawater availableon two-thirds of the world'ssurface, many water deficientpopulations could have access to avast potential for freshwater if aneconomical means to desalinateseawater can be demonstrated.That is the working hypothesis ofa feasibility study begun by theAgency in 1994. It has identifiedoptions for utilizing small- andmedium-sized nuclear reactors asa possible power source to rundesalination plants to producelow-cost potable water in NorthAfrica.

One participant in the feasibilityphase is Morocco which is aboutto undertake a joint pre-projectstudy of a demonstration plantwith assistance from the IAEA andChina. The plan would utilize a 10megawatt reactor supplied byChina to produce 8,000 cubicmeters a day of fresh water. Otherparticipants in the study areAlgeria, Egypt (which is alsostudying project design), Libya,Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. OverUS $670,000 in financial supportfor the study was provided byArgentina, Canada, Jordan, Korea,Libya, USA and the Arab AtomicEnergy Agency. The Agency willhold an international symposiumon the subject in 1997, incollaboration with UNIDO, WHO,WMO and the EU.

Roundtable starts SITcampaign in Mali

Livestock development in much ofAfrica is limited by the range ofthe tsetse fly, which transmits atype of sleeping sickness callednagana (see Cattle killer meets itsmatch, INSIDE TC, March 1996).Livestock infection rates of up to45% in the peri urban zone of

Trypanosomiasis is a growingthreat to Mali livestock. (Credit P.Fouchard/IAEA)

Bamako have inspired theGovernment of Mali to convene aroundtable with its developmentpartners to discuss co-ordinatingactivities for an integratedapproach for tsetse and trypano-somiasis management. TheFrench, German and US aidagencies have sponsored livestockrelated development projects inthe area which were represented atthe meeting.

The roundtable on 27-31 May 1996discussed the possibility of ini-tiating area-wide conventional flysuppression activities (traps,screens and chemical treatments)involving local communities todrastically reduce the tsetse pop-ulation in an area of appro-ximately 2000 km2. This is a pre-requisite for a potential sterileinsect technique (SIT) interven-tion. The Government undertookto document through a socio-economic study the extent of thetsetse and trypanosomiasisproblem. On the basis of thesepromising discussions, the Agencyis moving ahead with technicalfeasibility planning for boundarymapping and fly range involvingrelease/recapture studies withmarked sterile males.

Capital replenishment (frompage 2)

provide technical training;laboratory equipment especiallyfor quality control of water; andhelp elaborate a mathematicalmodel to predict changes in flowpatterns and water table levels sothat the aquifers can be sus-tainably and safely utilized.

The first substantial result of thiswork is a decision by the waterauthority, Hidrocapital, toconstruct new wells. Their sitesand designs are based on dataresulting from the IAEA project.Fifteen wells have already beendrilled and 50 more will becompleted this year. It isestimated that they will be able toprovide more than 112,000 cubicmetres a day, or some 46% of thecurrent water deficit.

The city intends to continue thewells programme over the longterm to ensure that strategicinstitutions such as hospitals andfire stations will have access towater in case of emergency. Tenhospitals are already beingequipped with such wells.

Parched plains wait for mountain manna

The Atacama, lying along thePacific Ocean coastline inSouth America, is the driest

area in the world with barely acentimetre of rainfall a year. Justnorth of the Atacama, in Peru, a7500 km2 coastal plain gets no morerain, but it has sustained humansettlements and agriculture forcenturies on the banks of the onlytwo perennial rivers running fromthe Andean mountains to the PacificOcean.

Two early settlements calledMoquegua and Tacna have swolleninto cities. They lie some 80 km apart,and 15 to 20 km inland. Some 200,000people now live on this part of thecoastal plain, sustained mainly bynearby copper mines and smallindustries. The port of Ilo, at the verynorth of the area, has grown into atown since a treaty made it the onlyaccess to the sea for neighbouringBolivia. The busy road from La Pazruns through Moquegua province.

The increasing demand for water inthese settlements is already beyondthe capacity of the two rivers. Theprovincial water authorities arenow urgently looking for ways toaugment the supply, at least fordrinking and domestic use. They arelooking to the high plateau: thealtiplano is a vast sub-region (manymillions of hectares towering3400^000 metres above sea levelbetween the eastern and westernchains of Andean peaks in Peru andBolivia) that gets 300-400 millimetresof rainfall a year. This is not a lot, butsome geologists have suggested thatthere would be large enough aquifersthere to supply the plains.

The hydrology of the plateau hasnever been studied. In 1995 IAEATechnical Co-operation began atwo-year project aimed to providethe provinces a complete hydro-logical evaluation of the altiplano, aswell as the means of transportingwater to the coastal area. Findingsfrom isotope analysis so far are

8 mixed. Most of the aquifers are

Acute water shortages in theAtacama affect everyone.(Credit C. Fjeld/IAEA)

small, in compartments separatedby impermeable barriers, andmostly replenished only by nearbyrainfall. The hydrology is highlycomplex.

Evaporation and evapotranspi-ration (mainly from vegetation)have been found to be very high.The roots of bunchgrass and othernative plants do not run deep, so ifwater close to the surface declinesby much, because of extraction, itwill seriously affect plant life andcause havoc to the wild vicunas,tamed llamas, alpacas and otheranimals. It will also jeopardize thelives and traditions of indigenouspeople who live in scattered settle-ments and grow crops that haveacclimatized to the demandingconditions.

On the other hand some aquifersystems seem promising, andalready wells are being drilledbased on available study results.The study is using tritium andcarbon-14 isotopes to unravel the

complexities of the altiplano aqui-fers and to provide crucial data fordevelopment of flow models foraccurate water resource manage-ment. Water from the high plateaucould be transported to the thirstycoastal plain by using dry river bedsand canals to feed the perennialrivers.

The Agency has, over many years,helped develop the infrastructureand capability of its counterpart,Peru's Institute for Nuclear Energy(IPEN), which has developed ananalytical laboratory in Tacna. Anatomic absorption spectrometer andwell logging equipment were pro-vided through this project, as wellas expert services and training. Theprovincial water authorities andIPEN must now decide and im-plement plans to handle severalspecific problems. For example, thenatural transportation route passeshigh altitude geothermal springscontaining boiling water that is verysaline and has high levels of boronand arsenic which are poison toplants and people.

Possible solutions include: buildingsome 50 km of canals; constructing apower plant to use the hot water tomake electricity and recycle thewater into the geothermal reservoir;and building an expensive treatmentplant to decontaminate the water.The project, which ends this year,expects to provide data which willhelp evaluate these options andbring water from the altiplano, likemanna from the mountains, to theparched coastal plain.

INSIDE Technical Co-operation is produced for the IAEA byMaximedia. The stories may be freely reproduced. For moreinformation contact: IAEA TC Programme Co-ordination Section,P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 2060 26005; Fax: +431 2060 29633; e-mail: foucharp@tcpol.iaea.or.at