Taking the heat off a reactor

Those looking at a future hydrogen powered economy have hot upon a hot idea. Heat from existing nuclear plants could be used in the more economical production of hydrogen, with future plants custom-built for hydrogen production. This was announced by a scientist working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria.

Hydrogen could have a beneficial impact on global warming, since burning hydrogen releases only water vapor and no carbon dioxide, even if water vapor is also a warming agent. Scientists and economists at IAEA and elsewhere are working intensively to determine how current nuclear power reactors -- 435 are operational worldwide -- and future nuclear power reactors could be enlisted in hydrogen production.

Most hydrogen production at present comes from natural gas or coal and results in releases of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. On a much smaller scale, some production comes from a cleaner process called electrolysis. This electrolysis becomes more efficient and less expensive if water is first heated to form steam, with the electric current passed through the steam.

Nuclear power plants are ideal for hydrogen production because they already produce the heat for changing water into steam and the electricity for breaking the steam down into hydrogen and oxygen. Yes, the economics need to be improved. Some countries are considering construction of new nuclear plants coupled with high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) stations that would allow them to generate hydrogen gas on a large scale in anticipation of growing economic opportunities.

Instead of building more of these reactors, better in some way to harness the heat for hydrogen production. We agree.

Meanwhile, the French Court of Auditors recently found that nuclear power costs more than what electricity consumers in the country are charged! The study found that the cost of constructing a nuclear plant has risen from 1.07 million euros per megawatt in 1978 to 1.37 million euros per megawatt in 2002. The average cost of a megawatt of nuclear capacity for France’s current 58 reactors stands at 1.25 million euros.