Nuclear Production of Hydrogen, Fourth Information Exchange ...

CHANGING THE WORLD WITH HYDROGEN AND NUCLEAR: FROM PAST SUCCESSES TO SHAPING THE FUTURE
Secondly, rising concerns about climate change prescribe to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so
as to not exceed a concentration of 450 ppm of CO 2 in the atmosphere which is believed to correspond
to a global temperature increase of 2°C. How to curb CO 2 emissions that currently grow at a rate of
2%/year to the point of making them decrease from the mid-2010s onwards?
The following are words of wisdom from the Chinese philosopher Confucius in the 6 th century BC,
“If we take no thought about what is distant, we will find sorrow near at hand.” Hopefully, this
inspired many countries that already set the following directions for their future energy policy:
• conserve energy;
• develop carbon-free energy sources (hydropower, other renewable energies, nuclear…);
• limit carbon dioxide emissions associated with unavoidable use of fossil energies (carbon
sequestration at fossil-fired power plants…).
There is no silver bullet: any single solution would be a dead-end and we need all solutions to be
worked out, all the more if some will not be technically available before ~2020 (carbon sequestration…)
and others that are technically feasible may not be economically competitive…
Peaking of fossil fuel production
Transitioning towards a carbon-free energy system is all the more timely as the production of fossil
fuels is anticipated to peak in the 21 st century owing to the steadily rising production rate and
unavoidable resource limitations: peak-oil or plateau around 2015-2020, peak-gas around 2030 and
peak-coal around 2060 (if exploited with no restriction, which would lead to an unacceptable CO 2
concentration of 600 ppm in the atmosphere).
Renaissance of nuclear energy
This context revived the interest in nuclear power that had been banned in Western countries in the
1990s. In addition to short- and medium-term plans to facilitate new orders of light water nuclear
plants, several international initiatives were launched to specify and develop in co-operation nuclear
systems that would supplement LWR in the 21 st century and achieve the various types of nuclear
production needed in the longer term. The Generation IV International Forum that was launched by
the US DOE in 2000 has certainly been the most active so far. A European initiative of the same
inspiration was launched in Europe in late 2007 after a strategic planning of energy technologies had
emphasised the strategic nature of nuclear energy to meet goals of the European Commission and
Council regarding reductions of greenhouse gas emissions (-20% by 2020 and evolution towards a
carbon-free energy system by 2050).
Future nuclear energy systems are basically of two kinds:
• Fast neutron reactors with a closed fuel cycle to achieve a durable production of electricity while
minimising needs of uranium and the burden of long-lived radioactive waste.
• High temperature reactors to possibly extend the nuclear production to the supply of process
heat to the industry, especially for the production of hydrogen and synthetic fuels for
transportation.
It is somewhat striking how the geopolitical situation and the past history of nuclear
development may direct countries’ priorities towards one type or the other of future nuclear systems:
• The Energy Policy Act of 8 August 2005 in the United States sets plans for the Next Generation
Nuclear Plant with the mission of proceeding to pre-industrial demonstrations of nuclear
hydrogen production in the 2020s.
• The French Act of 28 June 2006 on “a sustainable management of nuclear materials and
radioactive waste” sets plans for a prototype of fast neutron reactor to proceed in the 2020s
with demonstrations of advanced recycling modes that are anticipated in 2012 to offer best
prospects of industrial applications.
NUCLEAR PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN – © OECD/NEA 2010 27