This CRP addresses the issues expected for the potential upscaling of nuclear hydrogen production technologies and opportunities for maturity of currently under development. It will also try to tackle the techno-economics and safety considerations, as well as the associated environmental and social impacts of commercial nuclear hydrogen production on worldwide and on MSs. This proposal is planned based on the successful completion of the previous CRP on Examining the Techno-Economics of Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Benchmark Analysis of the IAEA HEEP Software, and extensive feedback from MSs’ experts participating in other IAEA technical meetings and activities on nuclear hydrogen production. The CRP is to be conducted by the Nuclear Power Technology Development Section.
The overall objective of this CRP is to: assess gained experience from R&D on nuclear hydrogen production in MSs; and potential near-term deployment of nuclear hydrogen production. The CRP is expected to develop a roadmap for upscaling and commercialization of nuclear hydrogen production and establish milestone recommendations to MSs on nuclear hydrogen production aiming at providing a better understanding of the feasibility of nuclear hydrogen as part of the future hydrogen economy.
Analyse the techno-economic, social, and environmental aspects associated with upscaling of nuclear hydrogen plants.
Assess the safety of the nuclear cogeneration plants for hydrogen production based on the latest R&D achievements.
Understand the potential deployment and time scale of large scale nuclear hydrogen production technologies for near term deployment.
Analyse the techno-economic, social, and environmental aspects associated with upscaling of nuclear hydrogen plants.
Assess the safety of the nuclear cogeneration plants for hydrogen production based on the latest R&D achievements.
Understand the potential deployment and time scale of large scale nuclear hydrogen production technologies for near term deployment.
The CRP had positive impact for national R&D programmes and expanding activities on nuclear hydrogen production conducted by participant Member States. For example, the CSI from Argentina, Ms Ana Ester Bohe (Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica) wrote on the impact of this CRP work for her country: "The theoretical feasibility study on nuclear-assisted gasification process applied to the Argentine Rio Turbio coal is very important for giving to our country the technical arguments that will be needed during the decision process with regard to the nuclear hydrogen production through the gasification of domestic coals. Aspects such as the most convenient HTGR design, the maximum size of the gasification plant according to the present state of technologies, and the most critical safety issues to be considered for the coupling of the nuclear reactor and gasification plant, have been clarified through this study. Moreover, the experimental activities planned for pyrolysis and gasification tests at bench-scale are also very important to evaluate the gasification behaviour of Argentine domestic coal in fluidized bed reactor conditions, as a function of the operational parameters (reaction temperature, partial pressure of reactive gases and coal particle size)."
The CRP is relevant for the planning and deployment of nuclear hydrogen production in Member States, a topic of growing international importance in light of the importance of hydrogen in the fight against climate change in many Member States. The results of this CRP were disseminated to a wide audience through the scientific papers produced and presented in various events and peer review journals, as well as through the TECDOC that will be published by the IAEA.