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India Launches World's First Nuclear-Powered Hydrogen Facility as Fusion Fuel Race Accelerates

Nuclear technology is expanding beyond electricity generation, with hydrogen production and fusion fuel emerging as the sector's next strategic focus.
Cooling towers and reactor buildings at a nuclear power facility, representing advanced nuclear technology used for clean hydrogen production.

India has inaugurated the world's first hydrogen production facility powered by the Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical cycle, using process heat from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam. Developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and IGCAR, the project produces hydrogen using direct nuclear heat rather than fossil fuels or conventional electrolysis, enabling continuous carbon-free production at temperatures of up to 530°C.


The pilot facility marks a significant expansion of India's nuclear programme beyond electricity generation. Officials said the technology could support the decarbonisation of steel, refining, fertiliser production, chemicals, and heavy transport, while complementing the country's broader advanced reactor programme following the first criticality of its 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor earlier this year.


At the same time, the race to secure fuel for future fusion reactors is also accelerating. Canadian company Next Hydrogen Solutions has partnered with Fusion Fuel Cycles to develop specialised electrolyzers for extracting tritium from heavy water, one of the few commercial sources of the isotope required for deuterium-tritium fusion. Global tritium supply remains limited, with production concentrated in a small number of heavy-water reactor operators, including Ontario Power Generation in Canada.


The two developments highlight how nuclear technology is increasingly supporting both today's clean hydrogen economy and tomorrow's commercial fusion industry, as governments and private companies expand investment across advanced nuclear energy systems.



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