The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that a framework to encourage the commercialization of nuclear energy deployment is being developed, which will reduce reliance on fossil fuels, whose prices are not stable.
`According to the agency, hydrogen generation, which is expected to play a critical role in meeting climate change targets, must shift to clean production through nuclear power and renewables, as nearly all hydrogen is currently generated using fossil fuels.
“That is a challenging prospect, requiring the creation of a new industrial base and supply chains.”
Alina Constantin, an IAEA nuclear engineer and project co-leader, said that today, the vast majority of hydrogen required by industries is produced using fossil fuel technologies (primarily natural gas), but nuclear energy has the potential to provide both the electricity and heat required for hydrogen production in a sustainable, low-carbon, and cost-effective manner.
“However, if nuclear is to play a role in the production of hydrogen for the clean energy transition, several challenges related to technology, economics, safety, and licensability, as well as policy support and stakeholder involvement, must be addressed over the next decade, demonstrating feasibility and allowing the shift to commercial scale production,” she said.
Historically, producing clean hydrogen using nuclear power has been expensive, but this is changing as a result of a global energy crisis that has made fossil fuels significantly more expensive and their global supply less secure.
According to a recent IAEA FRAMES modeling analysis, when natural gas prices exceed $20 per million British thermal units (BTUs), electrolysis powered by a combination of nuclear and renewables is the best method of producing hydrogen (Natural gas has recently traded at around $30 per million BTUs in the European Union).
“The analysis also discovered that in those price scenarios, hydrogen production powered by heat from advanced technologies such as high temperature gas cooled reactors (HTGRs) was highly competitive.
“HTGRs are being developed in a number of countries, with prototypes already in operation in China and Japan,” said Francesco Ganda, IAEA Technical Lead for Non-Electric Applications and lead author of the study.
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Meanwhile, interest in clean hydrogen is growing around the world, with a particular focus on nuclear power.
When the IAEA roadmap initiative was launched last month in Vienna, 28 countries and four international organizations participated to discuss their nuclear hydrogen plans, which includes hydrogen production demonstrations using existing reactors as well as plans to use advanced reactors such as small modular reactors to increase efficiency and allow for scaling up production.
“Hydrogen is a major component of the United States’ plan to decarbonize the country’s industrial sector, which accounts for a third of CO2 emissions”, Richard Boardman of Idaho National Laboratory said at the meeting.
“Recent federal US legislation has allocated $9.5 billion in funding for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, a Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program and Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling Initiatives.”
US Department of Energy assessments suggest that hydrogen demand could rise tenfold from the current volume, with nuclear energy potentially producing up to 15 percent of this total demand.
Andrei Goicea, Policy Director of FORATOM, the trade association representing the European nuclear industry, said the future of the hydrogen economy is also a hot topic in the European Union.
“However, while there is a push from some countries for producing electrolysed hydrogen using low carbon technologies, the case for nuclear may be hampered by EU investment guidelines that label nuclear energy as a transition technology,” he said
Ian Castillo of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories reiterated that the key to success for nuclear-produced hydrogen will be finding the right opportunities that combine a strong business case and nuclear electricity and heat from existing or new nuclear power plants with applications that offer significant decarbonizing potential.
“Wherever possible, existing infrastructure such as natural gas pipelines and repurposed coal-fired plant sites should be used.”
