powertalk
Keeping faith in a nuclear future
F
all-out from the Fukushima power station disaster in Japan has not dampened the determination of proponents of nuclear propulsion for commercial ships, it seems. A recent conference in Hamburg discussed progress in designing a new generation of merchant
tonnage with nuclear reactors.
A current focus is on power plants for LNG carriers and oil tankers but there is equal interest in system solutions for container ships and bulk carriers. Unsurprisingly, capital costs are considerably greater than for equivalent
“Our MobilGard lubricants protect engines
despite challenges posed by slow steaming and
low feed rates.” Kang Ming Sheng,
Marine Lubricants Engineer, Singapore
conventional tonnage but through-life fuel running costs for the nuclear option promise to be much less. The price of uranium enriched to commercial levels is apparently much cheaper than conventional fuels, which will be further undermined by the introduction of carbon taxes. Lloyd’s Register and engineering groups like Babcock are well advanced in R&D and believe there is a future for nuclear-propelled ships, despite the technical and political hurdles faced. The main drivers are the rising cost of traditional fuels and ever-tightening emissions regulations aimed at limiting the world merchant fleet's power to pollute, notes Professor John Carlton of London's City University, a keynote speaker at the conference. The world fleet has an installed power capacity of 410 million kW, he says, which represents 9 per cent of global electricity generating capacity. There is a perception that carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases present a significant future threat, and growing acceptance that using nuclear power for ship propulsion is beneficial in this context. “Some countries are suggesting that serious consideration should be given to nuclear propulsion for merchant ships. In a recent UK government memorandum detailing options for de-carbonising the country by 2050, the section on international shipping suggests building and maintaining a new fleet of nuclear-powered container ships and passenger ships.” A novel proposal from LR, which is examining suitable design concepts, is to locate the nuclear power plant separately from the cargo-carrying hull and enable the ship to be ‘split’ while offshore, allowing the non-nuclear section to be detached for entering the port.
Learn more at
exxonmobilmarinelubes.com
LR is leading a consortium embracing the Greek tanker operator Enterprises Shipping and Trading, US-based Hyperion Power Generation and British naval architects BMT Nigel Gee which is examining the marine applications of small modular reactors in tankers. Experts agree, however, that safety and public perception will play major roles in progressing the nuclear option for commercial tonnage. IMO adopted a code of safety in 1981 which still exists and could be updated; and LR has maintained a set of provisional rules for nuclear-propelled merchant ships which it recently completely revised. Public opinion might be partly assuaged by initially deploying the ships on dedicated routes avoiding enclosed waters: from Los Angeles to Shanghai, for example. MP
6 I Marine Propulsion I February/March 2012
www.mpropulsion.com
by Doug Woodyard
© 2012 Exxon Mobil Corporation. ExxonMobil and MobilGard are trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
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