Nuclear Production of Hydrogen
Second Information Exchange Meeting -- Argonne, Illinois, USA 2-3 October 2003
Hydrogen has the potential to play an important role as a sustainable and environmentally acceptable source of energy in the 21st century. Present methods for producing hydrogen are mainly based on the reforming of fossil fuels with subsequent release of greenhouse gases. To avoid producing greenhouse gases, the possibility to use heat and surplus electricity from nuclear power plants to produce hydrogen by water cracking is being investigated. This report presents the state of the art in the nuclear production of hydrogen and describes the scientific and technical challenges associated with it.
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Meeting the Near-term Demand for Hydrogen Using Nuclear Energy in Competitive Power Markets
Nuclear Energy Agency
Hydrogen is becoming the reference fuel for future transportation and the timetable for its adoption is shortening. However, to deploy its full potential, hydrogen production either directly or indirectly needs to satisfy three criteria: no associated emissions, including CO2; wide availability; and affordability. This creates a window of great opportunity within the next 15 years for nuclear energy to provide the backbone of hydrogen-based energy systems. But nuclear must establish its hydrogengenerating role long before the widespread deployment of Gen IV high-temperature reactors, with their possibility of producing hydrogen directly by heat rather than electricity...
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