Classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) says it plans to use Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service as a tool to accelerate licensing processes for nuclear in maritime applications. The idea is to use the Azure OpenAI platform to analyse historic nuclear licensing data, which should help licensing engineers to draft new permit documents far more quickly, LR […]
A report jointly issued by tech firm CORE POWER, marine insurer NorthStandard and class society Lloyd’s Register (LR) paints an optimistic picture for the safe development and installation of small nuclear reactors aboard commercial ships and floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) in the UK – provided the government gets behind the effort. The paper, entitled […]
Is nuclear energy shedding its unfairly earned reputation as a dirty, dangerous alt-fuel? Perhaps the maritime industry, mainstream media and public are still not completely sold on the concept –but, compared to when we covered the topic two years ago (see Ship & Boat International January/February 2022, pages 28-30), attitudes appear to be softening. The […]
Class society Lloyd’s Register (LR) and UK-based operator Zodiac Maritime have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and KEPCO E&C for a joint development project (JDP) to research and develop nuclear-propelled designs for container ships and bulk carriers. According to the press release KSOE (the […]
Dr M.J. Cianni, CEng., FRINA, FIEAust In order for the AUKUS submarines to operate for 33 years without refuelling they will need to use highly enriched uranium (HEU) at 93% to 97%, with a mass in excess of 200kg. Since HEU is highly efficient, enabling a 200kg HEU mass over 33 years would give a […]
Fincantieri, RINa and newcleo team up for nuclear-propulsion study Although it’s unlikely to offer a short-term solution to shipping’s decarbonisation mission, the tantalising possibilities offered by nuclear power continue to attract a small but growing number of proponents among the industry’s forward thinkers. In late July, Italian shipyard Fincantieri became the latest company to declare […]
newcleo, a UK-headquartered nuclear technology company, has announced an agreement with shipbuilders Fincantieri and Italian classification society RINa to carry out a feasibility study into the application of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the shipping industry. In particular, the collaboration will explore the potential of using newcleo’s innovative LFR (Lead-cooled Fast Reactor) as a small nuclear […]
By Dr MJ Cianni, CEng., FRINA, FIEAust In order for the AUKUS submarines to operate for 33 years without refuelling they will need to use highly enriched uranium (HEU) at 93% to 97%, with a mass in excess of 200Kg. Since HEU is highly efficient, enabling a 200Kg HEU mass over 33 years would give […]
What a difference a year can make. In Ship & Boat International January/February 2022 (pages 28-30), we looked at nuclear power and its potentially game-changing contribution to clean marine propulsion. Back then, we wrote: “It would be unwise to write off nuclear power, given the uphill struggle the industry faces in meeting IMO’s emissions targets […]