The nuclear option for the production of hydrogen as the energy carrier of the future

The impact power generation has on human health and the environment is becoming an ever increasing concern for most countries in the world. Hydrogen is a strong emerging candidate with a significant role as a clean, environmentally benign and safe-to-handle energy carrier in distributed power generation and in propulsion systems for mobile applications and as a chemical feedstock. It is also nuclear power that will be important in the energy supply over the next decades. Nearly 500 nuclear power plants are currently being operated or are under construction. New, innovative reactor concepts utilizing passive safety features for process heat and electricity generation are considered to play a substantial role in the world's energy future in helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology combines the advantages of a safe and reliable operation to provide both electricity and high-temperature (HT) heat to be employed in chemical processes for the production of H-2 and upgraded synthetic fuels. The paper describes the advantages of the HTGR technology for the production of H-2 and touches also the specific safety aspects of a HT nuclear process heat application system. The activities and results in the development of such a system in Germany in the past as well as the present and future activities in Japan and China for nuclear H-2 production are outlined in further detail.