Status of the Japanese nuclear hydrogen program

Shiozawa, Shusaku; Hino, Ryutaro; Ogawa, Masuro

A High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR), which is a graphite moderated, helium cooled reactor, is particularly attractive due to capability of producing high temperature helium gas and its inherent safety characteristics. Especially the hydrogen production using HTGR heat is expected to be one of the most promising applications to solve the current environmental issues of CO emission. With this understanding JAEA has proceeded with the development studies of the thermochemical water splitting IS process as well as HTGR reactor technology in the HTTR Project. In the invited panel session, the Japan's policy for HTGR and nuclear hydrogen is given as an introduction, followed by summary of nuclear hydrogen development works in Japan. And the HTTR Project which is underway at JAEA is explained, focusing on the achievements concerning the IS process technology development and future plan. Finally, personal future perspective will be introduced, followed by concluding remarks.