Nuclear Propulsion for Merchant Ships (NuProShip)

Decarbonizing shipping has turned out to be very difficult, and the scale of the challenge is also too large to produce green alternative fuels using the current power system around the globe. Nuclear propulsion has therefore remerged as a potential solution for merchant shipping. However, the nuclear ships of yesteryears have many shortcomings that are not acceptable for modern nuclear propulsion. Also, they suffered from port entry challenges and higher costs compared to fossil fuels. A new approach is therefore needed.Therefore, the project Nuclear Propulsion of Merchant Shipping (NuProShip) have been launched. In this Research Topic, we will explore its main findings together with other academic work that is relevant to its mission – to provide nuclear propulsion for merchant shipping that outcompete fossil fuels. The work is based on utilizing Generation IV reactor technologies because it seems to be the only viable path that also fulfils the requirements of everything from commercial insurance to reactor fuels.The Research Topic will address, amongst others, the choice of reactor technologies, class requirements, nuclear regulatory requirements, crew training, maintenance, load management systems, power conversion systems, enclosure design, stakeholder engagement, multilateral agreements, insurance, economic calculations, business models and more. All these issues are required to address to credibly approach the 2-3 real-life use cases that are being discussed, analyzed and proposed. The goal is that these use cases eventually will move from academic work to real-life nuclear demonstration projects in defined nuclear corridors for commercial operations in the early 2030s. Topic editors: Jan Emblemsvåg, Rüdiger Tscherning, Terje Strand Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79481/nuclear-propulsion-for-merchant-ships-nuproship