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使用済核燃料 — 廃棄物から資源へ 第2部：放射線分解による水素製造 — 核燃料サイクルから世界の水素需要を持続的に満たす新手法

Spent Nuclear Fuel – Waste to Resource, Part 2: Radiolytic Hydrogen Production – A Novel Approach to Sustainably Meeting the World’s Hydrogen Needs from the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (原題)

Holdsworth AF, Ireland E, Baidak A, Bodel W, Butler G, Currell F, Eccles H, de la Fontaine C, Goncalves-Rego M, Han S, Matthews J, Russell J, Stamford L

Research Squareプレプリント2026-09-15#水素対象セクター: power
DOI: 10.20944/preprints202609.1104.v1
原典: https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202609.1104.v1

🤖 gxceed AI 要約

日本語

使用済核燃料（SNF）からの放射線分解による水素製造を提案。137Cs等の高発熱核種を分離し専用線源とすることで、閉鎖燃料サイクル下でも水素を製造可能とする。世界のSNF備蓄で水素需要の約60%（年間約900億ドル相当）を賄えると試算。廃棄物を資源化し、原子炉運転から水素生産を切り離す点が特徴。

English

Proposes radiolytic hydrogen production from spent nuclear fuel (SNF). By partitioning high-heat radionuclides (137Cs, 134Cs, 90Sr) into dedicated sources, H2 can be produced even in a closed fuel cycle. Global SNF stockpiles could supply ~60% of world hydrogen demand (~USD 90bn/y), valorising nuclear waste and decoupling H2 from reactor operations.

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

📝 gxceed 編集解説 — Why this matters

日本のGX文脈において

日本は使用済核燃料の再処理・貯蔵が政策課題であり、水素社会実現と核燃料サイクルを結びつける本提案は、エネルギー安全保障と脱炭素の両立を模索する日本にとって示唆が大きい。規制・安全基準の整備が実用化の鍵となる。

In the global GX context

This work reframes nuclear waste as a hydrogen resource, offering a novel pathway for hard-to-abate sectors and contributing to global decarbonisation debates. It also raises regulatory questions for IAEA safeguards and waste classification that international disclosure frameworks (e.g., TCFD, ISSB) may need to address for nuclear operators.

👥 読者別の含意

🔬研究者:核燃料サイクルと水素製造の融合という新領域の可能性と技術的課題を提示。

🏢実務担当者:原子力・水素事業者は、廃棄物由来の水素供給オプションとして長期的な事業機会を検討できる。

🏛政策担当者:使用済核燃料の規制区分や水素戦略への統合を検討する際の参考になる。

📄 Abstract（原文）

Nuclear cogeneration is increasingly proposed to support decarbonisation, partly via hydrogen (H2) production through electrolysis, thermolysis, or a combination of these, but wide-scale adoption is limited by process inefficiencies, high costs, and concerns around nuclear wastes. Recent work demonstrated that gamma radiation, sourced from 137Cs, splits water into H2 at high yields with a TiO2 photocatalyst, extrapolating that world spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stockpiles could generate ~60% of world hydrogen demand, worth ~90 billion USD/y. This is achievable using present technology and would valorise SNF, commonly viewed as a waste, and decouple H2 production from reactor operations, but would limit operations to open fuel cycles, replacing the cooling ponds therein. By combining advanced separations in SNF recycle, partitioning the high-heat radionuclides (137Cs, 134Cs, and 90Sr) responsible for most SNF radiation, and forming these into dedicated sources for hydrogen production, a closed fuel cycle option is afforded. This would lower remaining SNF recycle raffinates to intermediate level waste and free the actinides for further energy generation, turning nuclear wastes from liabilities into resources. In this publication, we discuss the scientific, technological, and regulatory development needed to realise this concept in full. As this H2 production approach is distinct from others on the “colour spectrum”, we propose to call radiolytically-produced H2 “platinum hydrogen”.

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