Will nuclear reactors ‘repower’ existing vessels? LR weighs in
NuScale’s SMR demonstrator mock-up is still vast – but nuclear’s progress will not end here (Source: NuScale)
Nuclear advocates claim that extremely power-dense small modular reactors (SMRs) will provide sufficient electrical energy to power ships. It has even been claimed nuclear reactors, when their time comes, will be able to swap in for existing vessels, much like methanol propulsion has done on Maersk Halifax.
On the announcement of a new nuclear-powered ship design by Seatransport this month, Ship Repair Newsletter asked this question to LR’s nuclear expert Mark Tipping, Global Power to X Director, Marine and Offshore. “I mean, if we're talking about the possibility of retrofitting vessels with nuclear. I'd say entirely possible. It's just going to depend on that particular asset, the age of the asset. Most applications for nuclear are likely to be new builds, but there are always going to be those cases where the asset is such that it makes sense to repower with nuclear,” he said. “It is a very exciting idea that you could repower if it is a perfectly good vessel, and nuclear is reliable as well.”
Currently, “small” modular reactors are envisioned to be around 25m in length, as demonstrated by the mock-up built by NuScale in the US, – but are expected to become drastically smaller in size. This type of reactor is very different, and much simpler and safer, than the sort that have been powering nuclear naval vessels, icebreakers and submarines, which Tipping described as “last generation” reactor technology.
“It's going to have to be a very case by case basis, especially for the first of kinds and the first few [retrofits] that are done. Because safety is always going to be the ultimate driver with this.”
