American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has been awarded a contract from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to research barriers to the adoption of advanced nuclear propulsion on commercial vessels
The US$800,000 research project was awarded by the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy last year and formally contracted through its US Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development funding opportunity.
ABS will develop models of different advanced reactor technologies for maritime applications and develop an industry advisory on the commercial use of modern nuclear power. The project will be supported by the DoE’s National Reactor Innovation Centre (NRIC), based at Idaho National Laboratory.
NRIC will provide the advanced reactor framework to help propose how a maritime nuclear demonstration could take place. The centre’s director Ashley Finan said, “The national lab system has powerful capabilities – when we partner with industry, we can jointly apply those to our energy challenges, and NRIC was created to make that happen faster.”
“There’s a tremendous opportunity to reduce emissions in shipping, as well as growing interest from both the maritime and advanced nuclear sectors, and we’re pleased to be a part of this important work.”
In a separate, smaller award, the Department also contracted ABS to support research into molten salt reactors being carried out by the University of Texas. ABS senior vice president for Global Engineering and Technology said while nuclear technology has the potential to cull emissions and allow American shipyards and their supply chains to leverage national investment in terrestrial nuclear energy development, there are several issues that need to be addressed.
He said, “It is critical the industry is able to evaluate these technologies with a laser focus on safety. ABS is up to the challenge to support the DOE in these efforts,” The classification society has history with maritime nuclear energy sources dating back to 1959 with NS Savannah, which was the first merchant ship powered by a nuclear reactor and approved under ABS rules.
