b'28American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(REVITALIZEcontinued fromAndtheopportunitytosoonfacing the building of a nuclear-pow- a light-water reactor, like those in a page 26) build ships in the United States justered ship is what kind of nuclear reac- nuclear-powered submarine, wouldnt [speed] deficit in comparison to thepresenteditself.TheSHIPSfortor will work in a commercial vessel?meet that criterion. However, as Be available ship speeds of modern ves- America ActcurrentlyinCongressAlthoughtheU.S.has94activepoints out, The safety case for a [FS-sels. But for shipowners slow speed- is written to make U.S.-flagged ves- nuclear facilities and there are manyMSFR]reactoristhatitcantmelt ing (often called slow steaming in aselscommerciallycompetitiveandnuclear-powered naval ships, findingdown.Itsoperatinginameltdown nod to the industrys past) is an essen- sow the seeds of a rebuilding of com- the proper reactor for a merchant shipstate. You cant have a loss of cool-tial tool in managements toolbox tomercial U.S. shipbuilding. And whatthat will sail for thousands of milesant accident in this, because you cant offset growing environmental chargesbetterwaytorelaunchcommercialand call in foreign ports requires anlose the coolants.[manycontainershipsarealreadyAmerican shipbuilding than with anentirely different approach. AndasabonustheFS-MSFR beingbuiltwithdualfueloptions]innovativenuclear-poweredmer- AsBeexplained,therewerereactors have efficiency in the burn along with rising fuel costs.chant ship? potentiallyfivetypesofnuclearup of the energy inside that fuel, and But for shipowners to change thereactorsavailableincludinglightyoure moving the needle from fairly way ships are built and operated theyB LuePrint for an uCLears hiP water reactors, the kind used in navallow efficiency in current conventional needacompellingreasonandBeEven with the favorable conver- vessels,lead-cooledfastreactors,reactors to the other end of the spec-believesnuclearpoweroffersone.gence,buildingtheinfrastructuretohightemperaturegasreactors,andtrumasaresult,averylongfuel To compete with China, we need alaunchashipbuildinginfrastructuremolten salt reactors. And the latter,cycle,Berelated.Theefficiency better product. I think the reason totobuildnuclear-poweredshipsisathe molten salt fast reactor (MSFR),meansthataFS-MSFRshipmight dothis[is]insteadofhavingshipstall task as Be readily acknowledges.is the technology that best fits the cri- be able to run at their designed speed thataregettingslowerandcarry- But of course weve got all sorts ofteria for a nuclear-powered merchantforover20-yearswithoutre-fueling ing less cargo and costing more, youthings that need to happen in order forship. Although no to scale MSFR hasand with very little waste. This would now have the potential for ships thatcivil maritime propulsion to become ayet been built, the MSRF is comingquite literally be a game-changer for are sailing at their optimum designed[reality]. The great thing is that thesefast. No ones ever built one of thesethe containership business as velocity servicespeed,carryingmorecargoare starting to happen now. before. It is the worlds first devel- would again be an important metric.because on a nuclear ship you dontThe blueprint for CORE POWERopment of the fast spectrum moltenBecausetheFS-MSFRreac-need fuel tanks, and then doing thisistoinitiallyhavethehullsforthesaltreactor(FS-MSFR),anditstor is an inherently safer design, the without any emissions whatsoever atshipsbuiltabroadineitherSouthhappeningnowhereintheUnitedshipbecomesmoreinsurable.The averyreasonablecost.ThereisanKorea or Japanboth allies of theStates. TheIdahoNationalLabora- insurabilityofthenuclear-powered enormouscompetitiveadvantageinU.S. and major shipbuilding nations.tory, the first small scale machine isships comes down to the size of the that, forming the basis for a revital- The hulls then would be towed to ain the process of being installed andemergencyplanningzone(EPZ).If ized US maritime sector. U.S.shipyardforoutfittingandthebuiltsothatwecandemonstrate.thezoneisverylarge,aswouldbe Withmega-containershipscost- insertionofanuclearreactorandIts going to happenand happen inthe case if naval vessels were com-ingaround$270millionapieceandcorrespondingpropulsionsystem.the next four years, Be said of themercially insured, then the insurance newbuildingpricesrisingtokeepUltimately,asU.S.shipyardsandreactor development. is also largelarge to the point of pace with efforts to conform to envi- infrastructurearebuiltuptheentirebeinguninsurable.However,CORE ronmentalregulationsthereisaprocess could be shifted to U.S. Thee nsurinGi nsuraBiLity POWER is banking on the reliability dollars and sense reason for shipown- construction would be modular bothFromadeploymentperspective,of the FSMSFR systema system ers to look for alternatives. And a shipsavingtimeandallowingsectionsthe big difference between naval ves- with few moving parts and operating that doesnt need to refuel and couldto be built in different locations andselsandcommercialshipsiscom- at low pressure. Be believes that with even sell shore power to a port rathermoved into position for assembly. mercialshipsneedtobeinsurable.(REVITALIZEcontinued onthan buying it, has a strong appeal. PerhapsthebiggestchallengeAnd a commercial ship equipped with page 30)'