The production of clean hydrogen using existing reactors and advanced reactors that are still being developed can help build a future in which a hydrogen economy underpins the stability of electric grids and decarbonises industries such as transport and agriculture, Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary for nuclear at the US Department of Energy, told a panel discussion at the United Nations Cop27 climate conference in Egypt.

Huff told a #Atoms4Climate event organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency that nuclear power can play a role in the production of clean hydrogen because of its potential to generate large amounts of heat in addition to electricity.

Most electricity generating stations primarily produce heat, which is converted to steam to power electric turbines. A nuclear reactor’s output is typically measured in MW electric (MWe), but reactors also produce large amounts of heat which is processed into steam, and that heat output is measured in MW thermal (MWt).

“The conversation from thermal to electric power is very inefficient”, she said. “So, let’s use nuclear for what it is good at.”