South Korean duo gets ABS nod for floating nuclear power barge concept
Classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has approved a floating offshore nuclear power barge concept designed by South Korea's HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and KEPCO Engineering and Construction (KEPCO).
PHOTO: (left to right): Young Tae Moon, director at KEPCO, Patrick Ryan, chief technology officer at ABS and Sang Min Park, research director at HD KSOE.
The vessel will be equipped with a small modular reactor (SMR) to supply offshore nuclear-powered electricity for remote communities and island electrification.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300-megawatt equivalent MW(e) or less, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“This barge design not only eliminates the inconvenience of selecting onshore sites by being installed at sea but also offers the advantage of an integrated design for thermal energy production,” HD KSOE’s director of future technology, Kim Sung-Jun said.
“This increases the potential to support the production of eco-friendly ship fuels like ammonia or methanol,” Kim added. In addition, he confirmed that HD KSOE will also work on the “development of future nuclear-powered ships”.
Urgent need for regulatory focus on nuclear energy
A growing need for green marine fuels and zero-emission energy sources has led commercial shipping to explore the possibility of using nuclear energy to generate fuel for vessels or to directly power them.
British startup Core Power and Danish engineering firm Seaborg Technologies are working on two separate floating nuclear power plants to power green hydrogen and green ammonia production.
However, according to a statement released by the World Nuclear Association, industry experts speaking at a recent Core Power-organised forum held as part of London International Shipping Week 2023 underlined the need for targeted regulations to integrate nuclear energy into commercial shipping.
World Nuclear Association reported that maritime investment firm HICO Investment’s chief executive Chris Hartnoll saw "huge potential for maritime nuclear production" but found it necessary to address regulatory issues.
“I think the question is where the regulation will go. Will we be allowed to have nuclear ships pulling into different ports?” said the World Nuclear Association, citing Hartnoll.
Meanwhile, Core Power’s chief executive Mikal Boe noted that "IMO’s current safety regulations on nuclear maritime were developed in the 1970s and specifically relate to nuclear-propelled naval vessels", according to the World Nuclear Association.
“New nuclear for maritime requires agnosticism around the type of technologies we can use because we found that the technology that the IMO rules specifically refer to and regulates from the safety perspective, is in fact uninsurable," World Nuclear Association quoted Boe as saying, “and if it's not insurable, it's a showstopper, because we can't bring it into ports.”
By Konica Bhatt
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