Maersk, LR and Core Power to Study Nuclear-powered Containerships

Danish shipping group Maersk has agreed to join a study by maritime services firm Lloyd's Register (LR) and UK-based Core Power, that will assess the potential for nuclear-powered container shipping in Europe, LR said on Thursday.

The maritime industry has been exploring whether nuclear fuel can be used to power commercial ships as technological advancements have opened up such options, but industry officials last year said nuclear fuel solutions for ships were at least a decade away.

Maersk, LR and Core Power will assess the regulatory feasibility and frameworks that would be needed for a container ship using a fourth-generation nuclear reactor to undertake cargo operations in Europe, LR said in a statement.

Small and mass-produced reactors, which are envisaged to be fitted onboard ships, are less powerful and consume less nuclear fuel than traditional nuclear sites.

The companies will investigate the requirements for updated safety rules along with the operational and regulatory understanding that is needed to use nuclear power in container shipping, LR said.

Shipping, which transports around 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and the industry is under pressure from investors and environmentalists to find cleaner fuel solutions.

"Nuclear power holds a number of challenges related to for example safety, waste management, and regulatory acceptance across regions, and so far, the downsides have clearly outweighed the benefits of the technology," Ole Graa Jakobsen, Maersk's head of fleet technology said in a statement.

"If these challenges can be addressed by development of the new so-called fourth-generation reactor designs, nuclear power could potentially mature into another possible decarbonization pathway for the logistics industry 10 to 15 years in the future," he said.

A survey by the International Chamber of Shipping last year in May said nuclear fuel was being viewed with more interest than in 2021, with some seeing nuclear-powered commercial ships being viable within the next decade.

(Reuters - Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)