According to Lloyd’s Register (LR), new nuclear technologies are increasingly being considered and developed for shipping as defence and civil offshore applications underpin the case for their adoption.
In its most recent expert-led assessment of nuclear solutions in the Zero-Carbon Fuel Monitor, the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub points to improvements in nuclear-power technology readiness levels with offshore applications increasingly being proven.
To reflect growing maritime industry focus, the Monitor now evaluates five nuclear technology categories, up from three in 2023, with high temperature gas reactors and liquid metal cooled reactors joining pressurised water reactors (PWRS) micro-reactors (heat pipes), and molten salt reactors in the 2024 assessment.
According to the Monitor, the inherent level of safety in designs of onboard ship energy systems is helping to address public safety concerns. Further, technologies that can recycle the spent fuel from PWRs reduce the potential environmental impact of spent fuel disposal. The practicality of offshore refuelling has been showcased with the first refuelling of a floating nuclear power station taking place at the Akademik Lomonosov platform in November 2023.
However, despite these technological advancements, community readiness levels (CRLs) remain affected by public perception of the nuclear industry and investment readiness levels (IRL) are low due to uncertainties around the wider uptake of nuclear technologies in commercial shipping.
As more evidence from testbed technological solutions becomes available, LR believes that uncertainties in operation, costs and safety aspects will diminish. Development of regulations have now been initiated to facilitate the adoption of nuclear technologies in offshore application, further supporting advancement of investment and community readiness.
Amelia Hipwell, Decarbonisation Innovation Manager, LR Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, said: “An inherent advantage of nuclear power as marine energy source is that nuclear-powered ships are able operate for many years without bunkering and could potentially even supply power to ports whilst docked. Commercial shipping has the opportunity to leverage an existing land-based nuclear production supply chain and decades of experience in nuclear power for deployment. Therefore, from the technological perspective, the industry is making faster progress. It is now essential for the nuclear and maritime industries to collaborate in addressing issues that impact community and investment readiness, including regulatory uncertainties and overall negative public perception of security risk and safety of nuclear deployment in commercial shipping.”
Chirayu Batra, CTO Lucid Catalyst, who contributed to the ZCFM nuclear assessment, said: “Nuclear power is a zero-carbon, reliable, and mature technology that has been in use for more than 60 years and has undergone testing and deployment in both commercial and defence applications within the maritime domain. We have therefore rated nuclear’s technology readiness level on the upper range for Pressurised Water Reactors (PWRs), as both the fuel and technology are already being used in floating nuclear power stations for supplying electricity offshore. The key challenge is to take that further step to develop nuclear solutions specifically for large scale commercial shipping. We now have the opportunity to create an enabling regulatory framework to decarbonise maritime shipping with the help of nuclear, classification societies like LR have a key role to play in this process. The ZCFM is a great platform to enable more widespread public understanding of the readiness, benefits and challenges of adopting nuclear as a zero-carbon energy option in shipping.”
The Zero-Carbon Fuel Monitor report can be downloaded here.
Image: Zero Carbon Fuel Monitor report (source: Lloyd’s Register)
