Page 3 - Al-Rashed Newsletter August 2022

Research: Large Commercial Ships Have Most Potential
for Nuclear Power

As the maritime industry continues to search for solutions to meet the challenges of
decarbonization and long-term financially practical applications, new interest is building in
nuclear-powered propulsion for commercial shipping. Considered 75 years ago to be the future of
the maritime industry, researchers are renewing exploration based on new technologies.

New research conducted at the Dutch technical university TU Delft for C-Job Naval Architects is
the latest to conclude nuclear energy could be applied as marine propulsion in the future.
According to the independent ship design company, nuclear technology has seen several
interesting developments and should be considered for future maritime applications.
“Developments in nuclear energy have mostly been focused on land-based applications.
However, a number of aspects make them of interest for maritime application. In particular, the
significant reduction in harmful emissions,” concludes Koen Houtkoop, Msc. Marine Technology
graduate at TU Delft who conducted the research. “There are obvious concerns with nuclear
energy such as nuclear waste as well as societal perception. Additionally, we should be mindful
that regulations for marine application are outdated and require significant effort for a successful
application.”

The research identified large ocean-going vessels as having the most potential for nuclear
propulsion. By creating four different concepts (bulk, container, tanker, and offshore), key items
were analyzed, including the mass and volume of the energy storage and power generation
system. It shows that, even though the shield around the reactor is a significant portion of the
respective mass and volume of the nuclear power generation system, in most cases, the nuclear
option is lighter and more compact than the conventional marine diesel option.
One of the key attractions driving the new
interest in nuclear propulsion for
commercial shipping is the solution for
eliminating carbon emissions. Compared
to conventional fuel-based systems,
the research highlights that there can be up
to a 98 percent reduction in CO2 emissions.
Furthermore, the air pollution emissions,
such as SOx, PM, and NOx, are eliminated.

While nuclear marine propulsion has a high
capital expenditure, the research shows
it to be cost-effective within five to fifteen years depending on fuel cost and the vessel’s
operational profile. Furthermore, nuclear marine propulsion offers the potential to consider higher
design speeds, making the ship more profitable. This is because fuel cost (OPEX) only grows
marginally with higher speeds where ultimately the main limiting factor would be the CAPEX of
the installation with more power.

Research: Large Commercial Ships Have Most Potential for Nuclear Power (maritime-executive.com)