Nuclear - Issue #1

A word from the editor…

The subject of our latest special report, nuclear, made a surprise appearance at The Motorship’s Propulsion and Future Events in November when Jez Sims,  principal nuclear authority at Lloyd’s Register discussed its potential from the stage.

In this report, we not only look at the science powering nuclear-fuelled propulsion at sea but also look at the barriers to its widespread use; namely public perception. Depending on your age, you’ll have a specific nuclear disaster that you’ll remember which lives a special imprint on a psyche, regardless of whether its relevant to the fuel’s use in maritime or not.

A special thanks should go out to our sponsor for this report, as not only did Sims surprise us with his strong case for nuclear-powered merchant vessels, LR register also updated us on the work it is doing to make this controversial fuel more palatable to seafarers.

We hear from CORE POWER, whose Liberty programme looks set to make nuclear a mainstay of maritime propulsion, first as floating power plants, then as onboard propulsion. The company has received a great deal of investment which suggests there is an appetite for fuel which is virtually emission-free but perhaps has to escape its negative public perception.

Bill Thomson takes a pragmatic approach to his summing up of the nuclear debate, pointing out that given the recent stalemate at October’s IMO meeting over its Net Zero Framework, perhaps nuclear could step in to fill the void. After all, the fuel doesn’t suffer from the same supply and demand issues like those featured in previous reports like ammonia and methanol and given its use in merchant shipping dates to the 1950s gives it a legacy most of the other future fuel contenders lack.

The fact that unlike all other alternative fuels lacking the energy density of diesel, nuclear’s energy per mass is a very large multiple of diesel’s and doesn’t need bunkering or fuel supply systems. In fact one draw back some mention is that nuclear-fuelled ships travel too fast while others say this would be great for avoiding demurrage issues.

- David Stevenson, Editor, The Motorship
dstevenson@mercatormedia.com