The project, led by Cssc and Cnnc, involves a molten salt thorium reactor for a zero-emission ship: the first of its kind in the world
Beijing – China has announced plans to build a 14,000 teu container ship powered by a Thorium Molten Salt nuclear Reactor (Msr), marking a historic step towards commercial nuclear propulsion in maritime transport. The project is developed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (Cssc) in collaboration with China National Nuclear Corporation (Cnnc). According to initial studies conducted by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (Sdari), the ship will be completely independent of conventional fuels, thanks to a closed-cycle Msr reactor. The design phase is expected to be completed in 2026, with construction start planned before the end of the decade at a shipyard of the Cssc group. If realized, the project could give rise to the world’s first thorium-powered container ship, a technology long promoted by Chinese nuclear engineers for its superior safety, efficiency and scalability compared to uranium reactors.
Chinese authorities have already approved the initial safety assessments, but international regulatory obstacles remain, as the Imo has not yet defined specific rules for the commercial use of nuclear-powered ships. The announcement comes just days after the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that it had achieved the first thorium-uranium conversion in a 2 MW molten salt reactor, currently the only operational one in the world using thorium fuel, confirming the technical feasibility of the technology.
A conceptual model of a 24,000 teu ship with an Msr reactor had already been presented by the Jiangnan shipyard at Marintec China, an event which will return next month.
