South Korean Team To Develop SMR-Powered Ships
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Neutron Bytes.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Nine South Korean organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate on the development and demonstration of ships and offshore systems powered with small modular reactors (SMRs). The partners will also develop marine systems and the production of hydrogen using molten salt reactors (MSRs).
These points are listed about nuclear-powered ships.
- Over 160 ships are powered by more than 200 small nuclear reactors.
- Most are submarines, but they range from icebreakers to aircraft carriers.
- In future, constraints on fossil fuel use in transport may bring marine nuclear propulsion into more widespread use.
- So far, exaggerated fears about safety have caused political restrictions on port access.
Note.
- When as a child, I used to watch the large container ships at Felixstowe, I thought then, that they could be nuclear-powered.
- One engineering lecturer at Liverpool University in the 1960s, was talking about nuclear-powered tunneling machines.
- Rolls-Royce to name just one company must have the reactor technology.
I just wonder, when the Korean President and his wife visited the UK, just before Christmas, that nuclear-powered ships were discussed.
The Anonymous Widower 
Apart from Lloyds Register of Shipping I’m sure the Koreans are talking to all of the other Shipping Registers (American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Spring Grove Services, DNV etc).
Although operating out of the UK I’m sure what Zodiac Maritime add to the announcement, they’re ultimately owned by an Israeli property and shipping magnate. Its therefore not that surprising that the Houthis attacked one of their ships recently.
As for Rolls-Royce having Molten Salts Reactor technology, I’m afraid they focus their efforts Pressurised Water Reactors.
Comment by fammorris | January 28, 2024 |