India commissions world's first nuclear process heat hydrogen plant using Cu-Cl thermochemical cycle at Kalpakkam

India has inaugurated what it says is the world's first hydrogen production facility based on nuclear process heat. The plant uses a Copper-Chlorine thermochemical cycle powered by heat from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in Kalpakkam. The technology was developed by BARC and IGCAR, and the facility is meant to demonstrate that nuclear energy can produce hydrogen at scale without emitting carbon dioxide. The project is a technology demonstrator, not a commercial plant. It validates the Cu-Cl cycle, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using heat instead of electricity. The Department of Atomic Energy says this approach could support India's energy security and long-term decarbonization goals. If scaled, nuclear hydrogen could serve industrial processes that are hard to electrify, like steelmaking and fertilizer production. No details on hydrogen output, cost per kilogram, or timeline for scaling were released. The announcement focuses on the technical milestone rather than economics or deployment plans. For now, the facility shows the concept works at reactor scale, but whether it can compete with electrolysis or steam methane reforming remains an open question.