Safety Issues in Nuclear Hydrogen Production With the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR)

Abstract

Nuclear Hydrogen Production (NHP) schemes use high-temperature nuclear heat and steam to split water, thermo/electrochemically. This focuses attention on high-temperature coolants: supercritical water, gaseous helium, and liquid salts. Each has been studied within a reactor concept - the SCWR, the VHTR or the LS-VHTR respectively. Nuclear Hydrogen Production is particularly attractive for hydrocarbon upgrading in the Alberta Tar Sands, where liquid salt heat-transfer fluids have also been proposed for in-situ tar liquefaction. This paper considers the heat transfer characteristics of these fluids, and discusses safety issues in the context of NHP, with the gaseous helium VHTR and the liquid salt VHTR.