An overview of the R and D activities for the Cu-Cl cycle

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the copper-chloride thermochemical cycle and to discuss, in some detail, recent improvements in the hydrolysis reaction. The rationale behind the development of the Cu-Cl thermochemical cycle has been to offer a moderate temperature (< 550C) option for hydrogen production. If successfully developed, this chemical process could be coupled with several types of Gen IV nuclear reactors, e.g., the super critical water reactor or the Na-cooled fast reactor, or with a solar heat source such as the solar power tower with molten salt heat storage. The use of these lower temperature heating sources is expected to place less demand on materials of construction