Asia/Pacific News
ABS Approves Design of Korean Nuclear-Powered Boxship
The reality of seeing nuclear-powered vessels in the commercial fleet moved a stop closer on Wednesday with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) approving the design of a 15,000 TEU capacity nuclear-powered container ship developed by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE).
The vessel will utilise a molten salt reactor (MSR) for heat generation, coupled with a supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) system for power generation, ABS said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
The design of the vessel was approved based on class requirements.
ABS CEO Christopher Wiernicki, during his speech at the Core Power New Nuclear for Maritime Houston Summit last week, asserted that achieving net-zero emissions in shipping will be impossible without the adoption of nuclear power.
ABS is also collaborating with the US Department of Energy to research the barriers to adopting advanced nuclear propulsion on commercial vessels.
“Fourth-generation SMRs, currently in the demonstration phase, offer a groundbreaking improvement in safety compared to conventional reactors, Sangmin Park, senior vice president at HD KSOE, said.
“When applied to large container ships, they could potentially have less risk than some of the other alternative fuel systems.”
While nuclear propulsion technology is currently under development for commercial ships and remains primarily limited to naval vessels, this new Korean design could accelerate the advancement of nuclear-powered ships in the commercial sector.
