Economic Evaluation of Hydrogen Production Using a Small Modular Nuclear Reactor (SMR) as an Energy Source

Authors

  • Vinicius Porto Feitosa Federal University of Pernambuco image/svg+xml , Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste image/svg+xml
    • Conceptualization
    • Data Curation
    • Formal Analysis
    • Funding Acquisition
    • Methodology
    • Project Administration
    • Investigation
    • Software
    • Validation
    • Visualization
    • Writing – Original Draft Preparation
    • Writing – Review & Editing
    • Resources
  • Fernando Roberto de Andrade Lima Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste image/svg+xml
    • Conceptualization
    • Writing – Review & Editing
    • Supervision
    • Investigation
    • Project Administration
  • Caio Július César Miranda Rodrigues da Cunha Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste image/svg+xml
    • Conceptualization
    • Data Curation
    • Methodology
    • Project Administration
    • Supervision
    • Visualization
    • Writing – Review & Editing
    • Resources
  • Daniel González Rodríguez Federal University of Pernambuco image/svg+xml
    • Data Curation
    • Writing – Review & Editing
    • Resources

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15392/2319-0612.2026.3052

Keywords:

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, Hydrogen Economy, Cost Analysis, Energy Transitions

Abstract

Hydrogen is an important energy vector for the global energy transition. Due to its low carbon emissions, it has become a central subject of study for major nations. Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) represent an innovative approach in the nuclear field. This technology provides greater versatility, safety, and lower costs for energy production on a reduced scale compared with large nuclear reactors (LRs). This paper presents an economic evaluation of hydrogen production using a Small Modular Nuclear Reactor (SMR) as the primary energy source. The methodology uses the Hydrogen Economic Evaluation Programme (HEEP) software provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to estimate the levelized cost of hydrogen production (LCOH, in USD/kg of H2) using SMRs. The model considers intrinsic characteristics of the power generation plant and of the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) plant, the latter supplied by Hytron/NEA. To validate the methodology, it was necessary to evaluate the hydrogen production costs for a large reactor on the market, the AP1000 from Westinghouse. Based on these results, a 77 MWe NuScale SMR built under the same inflationary conditions as the LR was evaluated to avoid significant distortions in the results. For a realistic evaluation, cost studies provided by international institutions such as MIT and the U.S. Department of Energy`s Nuclear Energy Administration (DOE/NEA), and, when possible, by NuScale and Westinghouse, the companies responsible for the reactors being analyzed, were used. Preliminary results show that SMRs present significant competitiveness in terms of levelized cost of hydrogen compared to alternative clean energy sources such as renewable, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and wind power. Due to the versatile, scalable, continuous, predictable, and dispatchable generation profile of SMRs, the cost difference found is negligible. This validates the potential of nuclear technology, which plays a strategic role in the energy transition both globally and in Brazil, and reinforces the importance of in-depth assessments on the subject.

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Author Biographies

  • Vinicius Porto Feitosa, Federal University of Pernambuco, Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste

    I research the economic evaluations of using nuclear power units for the production of low-carbon hydrogen. Additionally, I am involved in CFD simulations to estimate the efficiency and bubble behavior of electrolyzers in green hydrogen production. I have a strong interest in artificial intelligence and have developed a fully functioning artificial neural network from scratch, utilizing only standard programming without any specialized libraries. Currently, I am seeking to deepen my understanding of the behavior of multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs) and deep learning algorithms. I also have experience in predicting material defects, having developed an algorithm capable of monitoring the health of concrete bridge components and determining how frequently they require maintenance by the responsible organizations. Furthermore, I am conducting research on experimental membraneless electrolysis for hydrogen production as part of the PRH-48.1 program.

  • Fernando Roberto de Andrade Lima, Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste

    Possui graduação em Engenharia Mecânica pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (1968), graduação em Bacharel em Física pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (1971), mestrado em Tecnologias Energéticas Nucleares pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (1981) e doutorado em Engenharia Nuclear e Planejamento Energético pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (1990). Exerceu o cargo de Pesquisador Titular do Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste da Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CRCN-NE/CNEN) até outubro de 2015 e de Diretor deste Centro de julho de 2013 até setembro de 2017. Aposentado do CRCN-NE/CNEN, atua atualmente como Pesquisador Colaborador deste Centro. Foi também Professor Permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias Energéticas e Nucleares da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (PROTEN/UFPE/CNEN), até 2020, tendo exercido a função de Vice Coordenador deste Programa em 2012 e 2013. Foi Professor Colaborador do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologia da Energia (UPE) de 2010 até 2014. Tem experiência na área de Engenharia Nuclear, com ênfase em transferência de calor em reatores e análise de sensibilidade via métodos perturbativos e na área de Dosimetria e Proteção Radiológica, com ênfase em dosimetria numérica utilizando Técnicas Monte Carlo e fantomas de voxels.

  • Caio Július César Miranda Rodrigues da Cunha, Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste

    Master's (2019) and PhD (2023) in Energy and Nuclear Technologies from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Centro Universitário Maurício de Nassau (2017). As a master's and doctoral student, he developed and implemented thermohydraulic models using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the operating conditions of the AP1000 reactor using a mixture of uranium and thorium oxides as nuclear fuel. He also developed codes in MATLAB for coupling between SERPENT (reactor physics) and ANSYS CFX / ANSYS FLUENT (reactor engineering) codes. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher and works as a CFD engineer in thermal and hydraulic analyses using the ANSYS CFX and ANSYS FLUENT tools to ensure the safe operation of new nuclear reactor proposals foreseen in the National Energy Plan (PNE) strategies on the horizon 2030 and 2050. He is also part of the team of experts for the CNPQ universal project: "Implementation of new experimental techniques for 3D analysis of thermohydraulic phenomena in investigations of SMR type reactors".

  • Daniel González Rodríguez, Federal University of Pernambuco

    Possui graduação em Ingeniería en Tecnologías Nucleares y Energéticas pelo Instituto Superior de Tecnologías y Ciencias Aplicadas (InSTEC)(2010,Havana,Cuba), com diploma revalidado no curso de Engenharia Nuclear pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) (2018) e registro profissional no CREA-SP. Mestre em Ingenieria e Instalaciones Nucleares pelo InSTEC (2013, Havana, Cuba) e Doutor em Tecnologias Energéticas e Nucleares na Universidade Federal de Pernambuco UFPE (2017, Recife, Brasil). Desempenhou o cargo de Professor no InSTEC (2010-2017, Havana,Cuba), vinculado ao Curso de graduação em Ingeniería en Tecnologías Nucleares y Energéticas, e desde 2019 atua como colaborador no Programa de Pós-graduação em Tecnologias Energéticas e Nucleares do DEN, UFPE. Desde 2017 integra o Grupo de Engenharia de Reatores no Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste (CRCN-NE) em Recife-PE. Atualmente é Professor Adjunto da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco CAS-UFPE e atua como coordenador do curso de Engenharia de Energias Renováveis.Tem vários artigos científicos publicados na área energética, com ênfase em processos de produção de hidrogênio, eficiência energética, reatores nucleares inovativos e termoidraúlica nuclear. Possui 15 anos de experiência no ensino superior, principalmente nas disciplinas de Resistência dos Materiais, Mecânica, Modelagem de processos de Engenharia, Métodos dos Elementos Finitos, Transferência de Calor em Regime bifâsico, Análise de Reatores Nucleares, Introdução ao Cálculo, Introdução à Engenharia de Energias Renováveis e Engenharia de Sistemas de Eenrgia.

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Published

2026-07-24

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Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2026)

Section

Original Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Vinicius Porto Feitosa, Fernando Roberto de Andrade Lima, Caio Július César Miranda Rodrigues da Cunha, Daniel González Rodríguez

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