Asia/Pacific News
Chinese Firm Plans 24,000 TEU Nuclear-Powered Boxship
A Chinese company is seeking to build a 24,000 TEU nuclear-powered boxship.
The design, developed by Jiangnan Shipbuilding in China, was revealed at the Marintec China industry event earlier this month, nuclear technology firm Core Power said in an emailed statement.
The design has been awarded an approval in principle by classification society DNV.
The design is based on a molten salt reactor running on thorium.
The ship would be one of the world's largest if built, and would produce next to zero GHG emissions.
Nuclear propulsion is gathering a small but committed fanbase in the shipping industry as a potential long-term solution to the industry's decarbonisation problems.
The technology may prove cheaper than zero-carbon alternative fuels, but will need to clear some daunting regulatory, political and technical hurdles before its use becomes widespread.
