The Japanese government plans to start field testing clean hydrogen production using nuclear power by 2028, Nikkei reported, noting that this followed successful safety tests of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). The test was carried out by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) at the Oarai Research and Development Institute in Ibaraki prefecture as an international joint research project under the OECD/NEA (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development/Nuclear Energy Agency).
JAEA has successfully completed the world's first safety demonstration test for a prismatic High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) demonstrating that the core does not melt even in the loss of forced cooling. The safety showed that, even at 100% power output at roughly 850ºC, the HTTR was able to cool down naturally and shutdown without the need to insert control rods. "It demonstrated it was capable of a high level of safety even during an accident," said a JAEA representative.
Japan plans to use the heat produced by the HTTR to produce hydrogen. The government will take charge of the project until the technology is established, after which the private sector will promote further development.
The JAEA will petition the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) later this year to begin screenings for connecting hydrogen production equipment to a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. If the screenings are successful, a field test for nuclear hydrogen production will begin in 2028. The government has set a goal of expanding the annual supply of hydrogen sixfold to approximately 12m tonnes by 2040.
The HTTR has a thermal output of 30 MW. If this is increased to 250 MW, it could produce enough hydrogen to power 200,000 fuel cell vehicles for a year, according to a JAEA estimate. Because of the limited output of the HTTR, JAEA plans to use multiple units.
Image. The High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (courtesy of JAEA)
