Fourth information Exchange Meeting on the Nuclear Production of Hydrogen
Background and purpose

The NEA Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) had previously organised three information exchange meetings to discuss scientific and strategic matters pertaining to the nuclear production of hydrogen. Earlier meetings had covered numerous issues such as: 1) prospects for hydrogen in future energy structures and the role of nuclear power; 2) R&D programmes; 3) technologies and design concepts; and 4) integrated production systems; basic and applied science. Meeting participants have reviewed progress in nuclear hydrogen technologies and expressed an interest in discussing related topics such as safety, economics and licensing issues at the fourth meeting.

In addition to papers on scientific and technical issues, the fourth meeting organisers welcome papers dealing with the following topics:

  • economic viability appraisals
  • sustainability considerations of the production process
  • potential market opportunities, such as hydrogen for fuel cells (mainly for use in transportation)
  • hydrogen for use in coal and oil processes.

Regulatory agencies were welcome to participate and to exchange views on safety issues.

The meeting was co-organised by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the NEA Nuclear Science Committee (NSC). The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was a co-sponsor of the meeting.

Proceedings

All presented papers were included in the proceedings published by the NEA.

Topics

The meeting consisted of plenary sessions with paper contributions, panel discussions and poster sessions. There was a summary session at the end of the meeting. The Technical Program Committee invited paper contributions primarily covering scientific and technological progress, but also considered contributions that addresed some strategic issues related to nuclear production of hydrogen, including:

  1. the role of hydrogen in future energy structures and potential market opportunities
  2.  nuclear hydrogen R&D programmes worldwide
  3. technologies for nuclear production of hydrogen
    1. thermo-chemical water cracking
    2. high-temperature electrolysis
    3. nuclear-assisted steam methane reforming
    4. basic and applied science in support of nuclear hydrogen production
  4. concept designs and safety issues of nuclear hydrogen production systems
  5. economic viability of the hydrogen production process
  6. sustainability of the hydrogen production process
Meeting organisation

Technical programme committee

  • Daniel Meneley (UOIT, Canada)
  • Alistair Miller (AECL, Canada)
  • Jingming Xu (Tsinghua Univ, China)
  • Philippe Carles (CEA, France)
  • Jérôme Gosset (AREVA, France)
  • Pascal Yvon (CEA, France)
  • Karl Verfondern (FZ-Juelich, Germany)
  • Ibrahim Khamis (IAEA)
  • Giuseppe Gherardi (ENEA, Italy)
  • Masao Hori (SA, Japan)
  • Yukitaka Kato (TIT, Japan)
  • Kazuhiko Kunitomi (JAEA, Japan)
  • Hiroyuki Ota (Toshiba, Japan)
  • Jonghwa Chang (KAERI, Korea)
  • Hee-Cheon Noh (KAIST, Korea)
  • Juan-Luis Francois (UNAM, Mexico)
  • Jan L. Kloosterman (TUD, Netherlands)
  • Teresa Dominguez (EA, Spain)
  • Warren Schenler (PSI, Switzerland)
  • Robert Buckingham (GA, USA)
  • Mel Buckner (SRS, USA)
  • Charles Forsberg (MIT, USA)
  • Steve Herring (INL, USA)
  • Stephen Kung (DOE, USA)
  • Kevin Okula (WSMS, USA)
  • Paul Picard (SNL, USA)
  • Carl Sink (DOE, USA)
  • William Summers (SRL, USA)
  • Bilge Yildiz (MIT, USA)

International advisory committee

  • Romney Duffey (AECL, Canada)
  • Jozef Misak (NRI-Rez, Czech Republic)
  • Akira Omoto (IAEA)
  • Shusaku Shiozawa (JAEA, Japan)
  • Kazuaki Matsui (IAE, Japan)
  • Juan Eibenschutz (CNSNS, Mexico)
  • Paul Kruger (Stanford Univ, USA)
  • Ken Schultz (GA, USA)
  • Finis Southworth (AREVA, USA)

Meeting secretariat

  • Y. Nemoto (OECD/NEA)
  • T. R. Krause (ANL)

Organising committee

  • Ted Krause (ANL)
  • Yoshiyuki Nemoto (NEA)
  • Claes Nordborg (NEA)
  • Jan van Erp (ANL)
  • David Wade (ANL)
When?
14 - 16 April 2009
Chicago, Illinois, United States