With the amount of goods traveling every day on massive container ships across the oceans, it stands to reason that those ships could use a nuclear boost—and developers of Gen IV reactors want to make it happen.
This week, UK-based nuclear startup Core Power announced that it entered into an agreement with Lloyd’s Register, a UK maritime services and consulting firm, to explore regulatory pathways for using advanced reactors to power large container ships.
“There’s no net-zero without nuclear,” Mikal Bøe, CEO of Core Power, said in a release. “A critical key to unlocking the vast potential for nuclear energy to transform how the maritime sector is powered, is the standards framework for commercial insurability of floating nuclear power plants and nuclear-powered ships that would operate in nearshore environments, ports, and waterways.”
Nuclear on the high seas: The idea of powering cargo shipping vessels with nuclear reactors was first floated (no pun intended) in the 1950s, but it never gained much steam. Today, there are many nuclear-powered submarines in operation, as well as nuclear icebreaker ships and a single Russian cargo ship. But nuclear’s potential to cut down on shipping emissions and increase the duration of voyages has not been fully explored.
- This is partly due to the complex regulatory frameworks that nuclear ship operators would have to navigate, including potentially conflicting laws between ports.
- Still, there’s a massive opportunity to improve cargo shipping with nuclear technology, which could result in shorter shipping times, less refueling, longer-duration journeys, and far lower emissions than their oil-powered counterparts.
There are a number of startups that have signed agreements to study or develop nuclear power systems for commercial shipping. Newcleo, Kairos Power, and Ultra Safe Nuclear, for example, have signed deals to examine the feasibility of using their SMR designs at sea.
Lloyd’s x Core Power: Under this new partnership, Core Power and Lloyd’s Register will figure out what it would take on the policy side to build a container ship powered by a Gen IV nuclear reactor—one with inherent physical safety, like how Core Power has designed its molten salt SMR—that can operate out of European ports.
Lead Reporter of Ignition
