India starts world's first hydrogen production facility using nuclear technology
The successful integration of nuclear process heat with hydrogen generation marks a pioneering technological breakthrough and opens a promising pathway for large-scale, carbon-free hydrogen production using advanced nuclear reactors.
India has said the world's first hydrogen production facility using nuclear technology and heat generated from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) was inaugurated at an atomic research centre in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
In a statement yesterday (26 June), the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said it marks a "landmark" achievement for India's clean energy and advanced nuclear technology programme.
By harnessing nuclear heat from fast reactors, the process significantly reduces dependence on fossil fuels and eliminates greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional hydrogen production methods, it added.
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According to DAE, the facility has been established at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, as a technology demonstrator to validate the production of hydrogen using nuclear energy through the Copper-Chlorine Thermochemical (Cu-Cl) Nuclear Cycle process developed indigenously by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai.
The successful integration of nuclear process heat with hydrogen generation marks a pioneering technological breakthrough and opens a promising pathway for large-scale, carbon-free hydrogen production using advanced nuclear reactors.
Among the various hydrogen production technologies under development worldwide, the Cu-Cl thermochemical cycle is considered one of the most promising due to its relatively lower operating temperatures and higher thermodynamic efficiency.
The commissioning of the facility will facilitate further optimisation of the Cu-Cl process and support future research aimed at scaling up nuclear-assisted hydrogen production technologies for commercial use.
Speaking on the occasion, Ajit Kumar Mohanty, secretary in the DAE, said, "The integration of nuclear energy with emerging clean energy technologies such as hydrogen production represents a strategic pathway towards a sustainable energy future.
"Nuclear power, with its ability to provide reliable carbon-free electricity as well as high-temperature process heat, is ideally suited to support large-scale hydrogen production while contributing to India's energy security, decarbonisation goals and long-term sustainable development objectives," he added.
