Hovedformålet med NuProShip I (Nuclear Propulsion of Merchant Ships 1) er å identifisere og tilpasse en Generation IV SMR til behovene til shipping og spesielt større skip. Det tekniske startpunktet er en allerede godkjent reaktordesign på ca 10–150 MW termisk effekt. For å lykkes med dette begynte prosjektet med å identifisere et sett med kriterier som ulike reaktordesign må oppfylle (eksklusjonskriterier) og samtlige kjente reaktordesign i verden per utgangen av 2023 ble analysert. Dette resulterte i et sett med 8 reaktordesign. Disse ble i neste runde analysert og rangert ved hjelp av Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) der til sammen 26 kriterier ble brukt. I tillegg ble det gjort en vurdering på oppfyllelse av kravet til tellbarheten av brenselet som de fleste havner har ved ankomst i dag. Resultatet var tre reaktordesign som ble stående igjen. Det ble 1) Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation sin MMR, som er en helium gasskjølt reaktor med TRISO pellet, 2) Kairos Power sin Hermes reaktor, som er en liten saltsmeltereaktor som bruker TRISO kuler, og 3) Blykalla sin Sealer 55 reaktor, som er en blykjølt reaktor.
Den nukleære teknologien ble analysert i større dybde ift regulatoriske forhold, sikkerhet, implikasjoner for skipsdesign, vedlikehold, håndtering av radioaktivt restmateriale og opplæring av mannskap. Disse analysene er langt fra ferdig og krever mer arbeid før vi kan konkludere selv på et overordnet nivå.
Resultatet er nå grunnlag i det neste prosjektet, som heter NuProShip II der alt skal utvikles i mye større detaljrikhet. Et viktig resultat fra NuProShip I er også vissheten om at det finnes ingen en enkelt reaktordesign som kan løse alle behovene til shipping. Derfor går alle de tre reaktoredesignene som ble identifisert, pluss eventuelle andre som gir høye score på utvalgskriteriane, videre inn i detaljeringsarbeidet som skal skje i NuProShip II.
Det søknes nå om midler for SFI SAINT (Sustainable And Industrialized Nuclear Technology) der de siste forskningsmessige forholdene skal løses. Fra SFI SAINT vil det bli lansert flere fullskala demonstrasjons- og innovasjonsprosjekter med egen finansiering.
The project has attracted great attention internationally resulting in that all reactor vendors have signed MOUs for further cooperating in NuProShip II and also SFI SAINT. Furthermore, the number of participating shipping companies and other industrial entities has steadily increased. A PhD fellowships has also been rewarded internally from NTNU addressing thermal storage.
The impact scientifically is that the projects has resulted in a very clear understanding of what criteria maritime reactors must fulfill and also which reactor technologies that can actually fulfill these criteria. Furthermore, we have identified that different ship types will require different reactor technologies - exactly which remains to be analyzed in NuProShip II. The r\project has also kickstarted the complex work on ship design, safety, maritime regulations, nuclear law, maritime law, operations at sea, infrastructure on land, support systems and marinization of the reactor itself.
Based on preliminary results, not published, it seems likely that the project in the end can actually achieve its main objective - provide zero emission propulsion for shipping at lower costs than todays fossil fuels. This will become clear either in NuProShip II, or at the latest in SFI SAINT. If successful, this will change shipping to an extent not seen since sails were replaced by engines. Members of the consortium can take a lead in this disruption.
NuProShip I is the first project in three projects that constitute the entire research program denoted NuProShip, an abbreviation for Nuclear Propulsion of merchant Ships. The ultimate purpose of the research program is to develop a commercially viable zero-emission technology for deep-sea ships that satisfies all stakeholders and requires no subsidies after the initial development process. These ships emit in total more climate gasses the all of Germany combined. Today, there are no viable solutions for this type of ships and most are even technically impossible. Hence, there is a solid case for executing this research program.
The research program is taking Generation IV reactors as its point of departure due to their superior performance on all parameters including safety, costs, waste, complexity and size. Developing such a technology for the maritime domain will be a "new to the world" innovation. Due to the complexities involved we must first perform a thorough concept and feasibility study, which is the objective of NuProShip I.
To pull this demanding project off, we have assembled experts in various domains. The expertise is not only academic, but also from real-life nuclear projects, real-life maritime shipping and real-life ship design, class and regulatory expertise. The work is split into four work packages each with major R&D challenges. The first is the nuclear island and everything that goes with it including land-based matters such as harbor and nuclear waste treatment. The second investigates all the technical implications for ships while the third studies the operational issues at sea. A fourth work package assembles all the insights from the previous three to estimate economic- and environmental effects including risks and future development needs.
