{"id":354231,"date":"2022-02-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=354231"},"modified":"2022-02-23T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T05:00:00","slug":"core-power-sees-the-future-of-green-shipping-as-floating-nuclear-power-stations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/core-power-sees-the-future-of-green-shipping-as-floating-nuclear-power-stations\/","title":{"rendered":"Core Power sees the future of green shipping as floating nuclear power stations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier this year, the Suiso Frontier tanker ship set off on its maiden voyage<\/a>. Its trade route will be the first of its kind: bringing liquid hydrogen from Australia to Japan via boat. The irony, of course, is that a ship carrying hydrogen fuel is itself powered by diesel<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s about to change. While hydrogen powered cargo ships are already being unveiled<\/a>, the future of container shipping could be nuclear-electric power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the vision of Core Power<\/a> \u2013 a UK based company trying to combine nuclear innovation and ocean transport. They build advanced molten salt nuclear reactors (MSRs) to be installed aboard massive container ships. The idea is to substitute nuclear power for engines normally powered by diesel. These ships would have more range, never have to refuel, and have net-zero emissions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImagine a super-containership Tesla that\u2019s going a little bit faster, carrying a little more cargo, and doing it in a green way,\u201d says Core Power CEO, Mikail B\u00f8e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green ocean transport<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, we are talking about massive super-containerships \u2013 like the one that blocked the Suez Canal in 2021.<\/a> Freight shipping accounts for around 80 percent of total exports and imports<\/a> for the European union. It is also responsible for 3 percent of global CO2 emissions<\/a>. Boats of this size are too large and travel too far to refuel on green energy sources without sacrificing valuable cargo space. This makes them very difficult to decarbonize.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re out in deep oceans, a large freight ship is really an island,\u201d explains B\u00f8e. \u201cIt\u2019s on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By equipping these ships with their own MSR reactors B\u00f8e hopes to nullify the need to refuel these ships at all. Instead, the MSR would provide all a ship\u2019s energy needs for during its lifespan. If a ship is at sea for 30 years, it would only use 1.1 tonnes of fuel. Compare that with a modern containership which uses roughly 200 metric tonnes of marine fuel per day<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Artist’s rendering of the nuclear powered cargo ship (courtesy of Core Power)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Decarbonizing the supply chain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MSR powered cargo ships could even decarbonize the ports they dock at. Ships conventionally turn off their engines and use a port\u2019s energy source when they arrive. But B\u00f8e\u2019s vision is for ports to run off the power produced by the ships that moor there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to decarbonize societies, then we need to start with some essential components,\u201d says B\u00f8e.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more short-term plan for Core Power is to create working MSRs and have them create green hydrogen on floating power stations throughout the world. The long game is for MSR powered container ships. These would create enough energy to not only power their own propulsion but potentially provide all the energy needs for the ports they dock at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t talk about the nuclear-powered cargo ship without addressing some safety questions. Namely, what happens if it crashes; what do we do with the waste; and can terrorist organizations or James Bond<\/em> villains use it for nefarious purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some members<\/a> of the scientific community are asking similar questions. They point to the fuel as being highly corrosive and destructive if the cooling process is interrupted. Though the fuel is already a liquid (and therefore cannot cause a \u2018nuclear meltdown\u2019), critics<\/a> say waste is still a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B\u00f8e believes Core Power has found a solution to these issues in the MSRs they are building. They have combined the fuel and the coolant, meaning you cannot have one without the other. This keeps it from overheating and blowing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the event of an accident, the fuel turns into a rock,\u201d explains B\u00f8e. \u201cIt is entombed inside of the machine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also means the fuel cannot seep out of the reactor or be taken out to create a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the time of radical innovation<\/p>Mikail B\u00f8e<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The MSRs Core Power are building are also very efficient and reuse most of their own waste. For perspective: It takes one gram of fuel to generate 24 megawatt hours. That is about what four households use in a year. The small amount of residue leftover is put in a dry cask and stored safely<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barriers to entry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t mean one shouldn\u2019t still be skeptical of this innovation. Nuclear has always faced stiff criticism that is renewed with each accident<\/a>. On the other side, some prominent voices call it the safest way to make electricity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople in the energy sector are either ideologically opposed to it or ideologically in favor of it,\u201d says B\u00f8e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main reason to raise eyebrows is that humanity has yet to build a MSR \u2013 let alone have it power a cargo ship. But it is a route worth looking at amid the growing need for clean energy. Nuclear is powerful and takes up far less space than solar or wind. The waste may be more volatile but no energy source is 100 percent clean.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pressure is on now,\u201d says B\u00f8e. \u201cThis is the time of radical innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Core Power\u2019s proof of concept should be ready by the beginning of 2025. They expect to have a licensed and regulated product on the market by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For another nuclear read, check out the nuclear powered car. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, the Suiso Frontier tanker ship set off on its maiden voyage. Its trade route will be the first of its kind: bringing liquid hydrogen from Australia to Japan via boat. The irony, of course, is that a ship carrying hydrogen fuel is itself powered by diesel.  But that\u2019s about to change. While […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1932,"featured_media":516402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26049],"tags":[68373,45675,68375,68377,38908],"location":[55977],"article_type":[43139],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-354231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mobility","tag-core-power","tag-maritime-shipping","tag-mikail-boe","tag-molten-salt-reactor","tag-nuclear-energy","location-united-kingdom","article_type-features"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"As the world starts welcoming hydrogen powered cargo ships, one company is trying to make maritime container shipping nuclear.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Alex Davidson","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/alex-davidson\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hweZnySP-r4FyO3De-LeJNhV0J-ship-gd3f6c2d09_1920.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Mobility<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Mobility<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Core Power<\/a>","maritime shipping<\/a>","Mikail B\u00f8e<\/a>","Molten Salt Reactor<\/a>","nuclear energy<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Core Power<\/span>","maritime shipping<\/span>","Mikail B\u00f8e<\/span>","Molten Salt Reactor<\/span>","nuclear energy<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 23, 2022","modified":"Updated on February 23, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 23, 2022 6:00 am","modified":"Updated on February 23, 2022 6:00 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=354231"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=354231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}