Transition to a nuclear/hydrogen energy system.

The paper explores the motivation for the transition to a nuclear/hydrogen system. For such a transition to be successful the technologies employed must be able to generate enough hydrogen to displace a significant fraction of the petroleum fuels used in the transportation and process heat sectors. This hydrogen must be generated in a manner that is compatible with the environment and independent of foreign fuels. Nuclear energy, along with contributions from wind, solar, and geothermal resources meet the criteria of environmental compatibility and resource independence. However, nuclear energy is the only one of these sources that has a high enough energy density to generate copious quantities of hydrogen. The status of the relevant nuclear and hydrogen technologies are discussed and how they are coupled to bring about a transition to a nuclear/hydrogen system. Should the world adopt such a system then the growth rate of nuclear energy would greatly accelerate. With an accelerated growth for nuclear energy the uranium resources would be depleted in a few decades with the once through fuel cycle currently in use. It is pointed out that deployment of fast breeder reactors would become important in the nearer term.