Reactor-powered Ships
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), an intermediate shipbuilding holding company of HD Hyundai Group, unveiled a specific design concept of a small modular reactor (SMR)-powered ship for the first time among Korean companies.
KSOE announced that it is promoting the basic design of a 240 megawatt (MW) SMR-powered vessel in the SMR industry fostering and development debate held at the National Assembly in Seoul on March 10. KOSE said that the design concept has four sets of 60 megawatt SMRs. This was the first time that the company’s blueprint for an SMR-powered ship was disclosed in detail.
An SMR is a nuclear reactor with an electrical output of less than 300 megawatts. If the concept being promoted by KSOE is used, it will be possible to install only one or two 60 MW small reactors in a smaller space, and about six to eight in a wider space. What KSOE is promoting is a floating SMR on the sea.
A nuclear reactor will be placed at the bottom of the floating SMR facility, and a platform that produces carbon-free fuel such as hydrogen will top the facility. If hydrogen produced in this way can be supplied at a low price, it can boost the competitiveness of Korean shipbuilders’ eco-friendly ships, experts say. HD Hyundai Group, which introduced an LNG/hydrogen hybrid engine for the first time in Korea, has set the goal of developing a perfect hydrogen engine by 2025.
KSOE also invested US$30 million (approximately 42.5 billion won) in TerraPower in November last year. TerraPower is an SMR company founded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The project aims to build an SMR in the state of Wyoming in the United States by 2030.
Samsung Heavy Industries completed a concept design of a power barge for a compact molten salt reactor (CMSR), a type of an SMR, in January and received a certification from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).