The industry’s first comprehensive rules for floating nuclear power plants have been unveiled by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) at a forum for nuclear industry leaders held jointly with Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
The ABS Requirements for Nuclear Power Systems for Marine and Offshore Applications, provides the first classification notation for nuclear power service assets such as floating nuclear power plants or nuclear-powered floating production, offloading and storage units.
We demonstrated today that nuclear’s potential in the maritime domain is so much more than a reactor on a ship. Nuclear energy can link energy demands across the electric, industrial and shipping transportation sectors to optimize energy generation and use, maintain grid reliability and support decarbonization of shipping and industry. Not to mention its vast potential for the production of clean fuels such as e-ammonia and e-hydrogen.
… said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman and CEO.
Additionally, the requirements allow designers to consider any type of reactor technology and propose a framework for nuclear regulators to collaborate with Flag administrations and ABS for complete regulatory oversight and license. The requirements can be found here.
This is an exciting time for nuclear energy. Idaho National Laboratory is growing and working with industry partners like ABS to test and demonstrate advanced reactor technologies. Collaboration and discussions like these will be critical as we move forward in delivering the low-carbon, affordable and reliable power that nuclear energy provides.
… said Brad Tomer, COO of the National Reactor Innovation Center headquartered at INL.
Furthermore, ABS has published a study titled “Pathways to a Low Carbon Future Floating Nuclear Power Plant,“. The scope of this study is to develop a high-level design of a FNPP intended as an auxiliary power source for ports adopting onshore power supply (OPS), or cold-ironing, for visiting vessels.
Key findings of the study include:
- The maturity of advanced nuclear technologies that may be implemented for a floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) is currently low. Therefore, the level of detail provided in this study is limited to engineering information available from the design of terrestrial applications for engineering postulation and recommendations for future design optimization.
- The modular reactor philosophy can successfully be carried over to the FNPP design with significant advantages in terms of safety and cost. Furthermore, the modularity concept allows the FNPP output to be reasonably flexible to adapt to the cold-ironing needs of large ports.
- Refueling cycles of approximately five years allow the design to be compact and simpler, with no need for fuel or high radioactive waste to be handled on board.