The Japanese government plans to launch a field test for manufacturing hydrogen using nuclear power as early as 2028, as reported by Nikkei Asia on April 4. The plan follows last week’s successful safety test on the high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR), a next-generation small modular reactor. It generates power by thermally decomposing water at temperatures of around 900 °C, while also generating hydrogen with zero carbon emissions. The safety test, conducted by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in Ibaraki prefecture, cleared a main hurdle toward the practical use of HTGR. Specifically, the reactor was able to cool down naturally and shut down without inserting control rods even at 100% power output at roughly 850°C, showcasing a high level of safety even in emergency scenarios..

The JAEA has been researching HTGR since the 1990s, in an attempt to complement renewable energy as a new electricity source for clean hydrogen production. Unlikeconventional nuclear reactors that adopt water as the coolant, HTGRs use helium gas to produce a high temperature of up to 1000 °C, three times higher than that of conventional nuclear power. The ability to produce high-grade heat allows for broad applications in various industrial fields, including manufacturing hydrogen at scale. JAEA plans to deploy multiple units of HTGR to meet Japan’s surging demand for hydrogen. Under Japan’s Basic Hydrogen Strategy revised in 2023, the country aims to produce 12 million tons of hydrogen in 2040, a sixfold increase from the current level.

Sources:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Energy/Japan-eyes-hydrogen-production-using-next-gen-nuclear-reactor

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-U.K.-to-agree-on-building-demo-of-next-gen-nuclear-plant

https://www.jaea.go.jp/04/o-arai/nhc/en/faq/

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japan-invest-107-bln-hydrogen-supply-over-15-years-2023-06-06/#:~:text=Japan%2C%20which%20first%20published%20its,from%202%20million%20tonnes%20now