ABSTRACT
Saudi Arabia plans to construct two large nuclear power plants to diversify its national energy mix and help achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Nuclear reactors generate heat without emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs), making them a suitable clean energy source for producing hydrogen. Although hydrogen is regarded as a clean fuel, the commonly used production method emits GHGs, particularly CO2, as a by-product of steam methane reforming. Alternative clean hydrogen production methods include thermochemical cycling and electrolysis, both of which require high temperatures for feasible production. Advanced nuclear reactors can operate at temperatures up to 1000°C, which increases the efficiency of steam electrolysis and facilitates most thermochemical processes. The challenge is to develop and deploy commercial high-temperature reactors by 2030; however, an alternative solution is to use electrical heating for near-term deployment. Nuclear energy is estimated to produce hydrogen at a cost of USD 2.20/kg (OSTI 2017) depending on the reactor technology used. This chapter explains how nuclear energy can be used to produce hydrogen, what clean production methods are available, and which nuclear reactor technologies can be coupled to a hydrogen production facility.
