The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre said on Tuesday the agency is developing a prototype compact high temperature reactor to produce hydrogen as substitute for fossil fuels.

Director of nuclear reactor engineer division, R K Sinha said the CHTR prototype would be a technology demonstrator for all high temperature nuclear reactors planned for the future.

"The high temperature nuclear reactors are being developed with an objective to provide energy to facilitate combined production of hydrogen, electricity and drinking water," Sinha said.

He said the reject and waste heat in the overall energy scheme would utilize for electricity generation and desalination respectively, thus hydrogen production using nuclear reactors will become cheaper.

The CHTR is mainly a Uranium-233-thorium fuelled reactor using lead-bismuth as coolant and beryllium oxide as moderator.

The reactor, initially being developed to generate 100 kw (thermal) power, will have a core life of around 15 years along with several advanced passive safety features to enable its operation as compact power pack in remote areas not connected to the electrical grid.