A consortium of British, American and Greek interests have agreed to investigate the practical maritime applications for small modular reactors (SMRs) as commercial tanker-owners search for new designs that could deliver safer, cleaner and commercially viable forms of propulsion for the global fleet.
The Strategic Research Group at Lloyd’s Register, Hyperion Power Generation Inc, British designer BMT Nigel Gee and Greek ship operator Enterprises Shipping and Trading SA are to lead the research into nuclear propulsion, which they believe is technically feasible and has the potential to drastically reduce the CO2 emissions caused by commercial shipping. The agreement for the joint industry project was signed today at the offices of Enterprises Shipping and Trading in Athens, Greece.
Plug-in Nuclear Battery
The consortium believes that SMRs, with a thermal power output of more than 68 megawatts, have the potential to be used as a plug-in nuclear ‘battery’. The research is intended to produce a concept tanker-ship design based on conventional and ‘modular’ concepts. Special attention will be paid to analysis of a vessel’s lifecycle cost as well as to hull-form designs and structural layout, including grounding and collision protection.
