Symposia

The Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, sponsored a Symposium on Nuclear Energy and the Hydrogen Economy on September 23 and 24, 2003. The symposium was held on campus at the Tang Center and was attended by about 70 people, of whom nearly half came from outside the Institute. Presentations focused on alternative means for the production of hydrogen as well as on the current and expected use of hydrogen in the energy field.

In his welcoming remarks, Professor Mujid Kazimi, Director of CANES, stressed the rapid growth in demand for hydrogen. Hydrogen currently accounts for the equivalent of 1% of total energy production in the U.S., and further demand will materialize if mobile fuel cells are widely used in the transportation sector.

In the first session of the symposium, Alan Walker of GE Power Systems discussed the commercial use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines and stationary fuel cells. Niels Udengaard of Halder Topsoe then considered the production of hydrogen on a commercial scale by reforming coal, oil, and natural gas. The reforming of fossil fuels for the production of hydrogen has been a well-developed process for over 70 years. A significant amount of research and development is needed to overcome the economic advantage of producing hydrogen by reforming hydrocarbons.

Layla Sandell of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the chair of the second session, presented the results of a recent EPRI Hydrogen Electric Economy Workshop. The objectives of that workshop were to establish industry goals, identify key industry stakeholders, determine the role of the electric sector, and identify and prioritize key R&D projects. Her presentation was followed by a review of the means for hydrogen production from renewable sources, given by Stanley Bull of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He described a variety of NREL programs on biomass conversion into hydrogen as well as ongoing research on the use of wind energy and photovoltaics for electrolysis of water. Stephen Melancon of Entergy Nuclear, Inc., discussed the advantages that nuclear energy would have for hydrogen production via high-temperature reactions, either using the steam reformation approach or water splitting approaches, which are now under investigation at national laboratories.

A highlight of the symposium was a lunch-time presentation by Paul Grant of EPRI. He described a futuristic transcontinental hydrogen and electricity distribution network based on the use of a superconducting transmission grid operating at very low temperatures. He likened this potential undertaking to the establishment of the motorway initiative of the federal government in the middle of the 20^th century.

In the third session of the symposium, Takakazu Takizuka presented a status report on the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) program at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). The HTTR, in operation since 2001, is a 30 MWth helium gas cooled, graphite moderated thermal reactor operated at 850⁰C outlet temperature. JAERI is currently making preparations for raising the outlet operating temperature of the HTTR to 950⁰C in the spring of 2004. This past August, JAERI successfully demonstrated on a bench scale the sulfur-iodine (S-I) thermochemical separation of 35 liters per hour of hydrogen. JAERI is currently designing a 300MWe helium gas cooled reactor for hydrogen and electricity production. R&D is being conducted for a helium gas turbine system for the 300 MWe system and a coupling system for steam reforming of hydrogen as well as S-I thermochemical production of hydrogen for the HTTR. Other thermochemical options using the calcium-bromine and S-I cycles with nuclear heating for hydrogen production were reported by representatives from General Atomics (GA) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Kenneth Shultz of GA discussed the recent evaluation of the economics of hydrogen production via the Modular High Temperature Reactor (MHR) with the S-I process. Richard Doctor reported on ANL's investigations of a variety of cycles that might operate at lower temperatures.

In the fourth session of the symposium, Stephen Herring described studies at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) on hydrogen production using high-temperature electrolysis. he discussed recently obtained results for the high-temperature electrolysis of steam using ceramic electrolytes. Edward Lahoda of Westinghouse discussed a hybrid approach for a modified S-I process in which electrolysis is applied to split some of the chemicals, an approach which had been investigated over twenty years ago. This process, he said, avoids some difficult chemical steps present in the traditional (GA and JAERI) approach.

At the symposium dinner, Professor Ian Hutchinson, Head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering, commented on signs of an upswing in the level of interest in the field of advanced energy technology, in particular nuclear energy technology, by undergraduate and graduate students. He then introduced the dinner speaker, Professor Ernest Moniz, who spoke on the recently published MIT report, "The Future of Nuclear Power." The report concludes that nuclear energy is needed if the U.S. is to meet its future increased demand for energy while controlling emissions of carbon dioxide. To meet the critical energy needs in the next 50 years, only LWRs with an open fuel cycle can be ready for the market. However, to overcome problems outlined in the study of cost, safety, waste, and prolifertion, R&D is needed on alternative fuel cycles and reactors that might be deployed in the longer run.

The fifth session of the symposium included a presentation by Lawrence Burns of General Motors describing GM's futuristic automobile powered by hydrogen gas fuel cells. Burns suggested that the generators in the cars should be thought of as home applicances that can produce electricity for the power grid during their many idle hours. A presentation by Professor John Heywood of MIT concluded that it is unlikely that hydrogen can compete with the evening internal combustion engine (ICE) power transportation system over the next couple of decades. He said that hydrogen as a vehicle fuel deserves examination, analysis, exploration, and R&D to determine whether it should be high on our list of long-term options.

The sixth session of the symposium included presentations on a conceptual design of a modular helium cooled reactor for hydrogen production by Arkal Shenoy of GA, and a molten salt cooled high temperature reactor by Charles Forsberg of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), both of which are capable of delivering 900 ⁰C heat to a chemical plant for hydrogen production. Also presented was a molten lead cooled fast neutron reactor with an outlet temperature of 800 ⁰C coupled to a thermochemical water cracking hydrogen production system by David Wade of ANL. Each approach has its advantages, but all require a good amount of research and development. In the last presentation, Bilge Yildiz of MIT compared the economic potentials of hydrogen production using high-temperature, high-efficiency advanced nuclear reactors. She stated that high-temperature electrolysis might be attainable at lower temperatures than thermochemical water splitting if a highly efficient supercritical CO₂ gas turbine is used with recompression. Such a power cycle is being examined by a team headed by Professor Michael Driscoll of MIT but is now at an early R&D stage.

In his concluding remarks, Professor David Marks, Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE), emphasized the complexity of predicting the technological winners for the future and the need for addressing energy problems in a multi-disciplinary fashion that is well suited for a university like MIT. He noted that the LFEE is becoming a convener of the debate among academia, industry, regulators, the public, and other stakeholders about future energy choices.

The proceedings of the symposium are available on a CD that includes the presentations of the twenty speakers as well as full papers of five of the speakers, as provided to CANES (http://web.mit.edu/canes/)