नवीनतम
World's 1st hydrogen production launched at IGCAR
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Ajit Kumar Mohanty has inaugurated the world’s first Hydrogen Production Facility based on the Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) Thermochemical Cycle utilizing nuclear process heat generated from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Mohanty said that the integration of nuclear energy with emerging clean energy technologies, such as hydrogen production represents a strategic pathway towards a sustainable energy future. He said that nuclear power with its unique ability to provide reliable carbon-free electricity is ideally suited to support large-scale hydrogen production while contributing to India’s energy security, decarbonisation goals and long-term sustainable development objectives.
The facility has been established as a technology demonstrator to validate the production of hydrogen using nuclear energy through the Cu-Cl thermochemical process developed indigenously by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. Department of Atomic Energy said that the commissioning of the facility represents the culmination of extensive research, process development, engineering design, equipment fabrication, installation, testing and commissioning efforts undertaken jointly by BARC and IGCAR.
IGCAR, one of India’s premier nuclear research institutions under the Department of Atomic Energy, has been at the forefront of the country’s Fast Breeder Reactor programme since its establishment in 1971.
The Centre successfully designed, constructed and operated the Fast Breeder Test Reactor, which has served as an invaluable platform for the development and validation of fuels, materials and sodium technologies for more than four decades.
The knowledge and expertise generated through FBTR have laid the technological foundation for India’s fast reactor programme and played a pivotal role in the development of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), the flagship of the second stage of India’s three-stage nuclear power programme.
