Will the large-scale production of hydrogen be part of the energy problem or part of its solution

The energy dynamics of nuclear reactors as a means of generating hydrogen were analyzed. Attention was focused on the following questions, over a range of values for the rate of expansion of the reactor network and the ratio of the energy required to build a reactor to the energy it produces: (1) the energy cost of developing a given system whether it would produce more energy than it costs or be a net drain on our already troubled energy economy, and (2) given that the system will produce net energy, whether the energy would be produced in adequate amounts and in a timely fashion. Based on the results of this analysis, a specific scenario was examined - the development by the year 2000 of the capacity to generate annually the amount of hydrogen which has the heat content of the natural consumed in the U.S. in 1970. For this scenario, it appears that the reactors, rather than the hydrogen, will be the energy storage mechanism.