NewCleo, the clean and safe nuclear technology company developing innovative Generation IV reactors using nuclear waste as fuel, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Fincantieri, one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world, and RINA, the inspection, certification, ship classification and consulting engineering multinational.
Under the terms of this agreement, the three companies are combining their deep international expertise and innovation experience to carry out together a feasibility study for nuclear applications to the shipping industry, including newcleo’s lead-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs) technology.
The deployment of newcleo’s innovative LFR (Lead-cooled Fast Reactor) for naval propulsion would involve placing a closed mini reactor on vessels as a small nuclear battery producing a 30MW electric output. This would require infrequent refuelling (only once every 10-15 years), very limited maintenance and easy replacement at end of life.
Using clean nuclear energy to power marine vessels would help rapidly decarbonise a sector grappling with huge fossil fuel consumption and its consequent carbon emissions. The shipping industry, via the International Maritime Organization (IMO), approved last week at MEPC(80) the new targets for GHG emission reduction, to reach net-zero GHG emissions by or around (i.e. close to) 2050.
While the shipping industry still carries 90% of the world’s goods, and the fourth IMO GHG Study 2020 confirms that its carbon dioxide emissions are less than 3% of the total global man-made CO2 emissions, the actions of the big players of this industry have the potential to drive trends and markets.
Also, using nuclear power on ships would safeguard the marine ecosystem in the event of an accident. With newcleo’s design the liquid lead inside the reactor would solidify as it cools down in contact with the cold water, enclosing the reactor core in a solid casing, and containing all radiation thanks to the shielding properties of lead.
Finally, the newcleo naval propulsion reactors would eliminate the current need for frequent refuelling, and at the end of its life, the whole LFR unit would be simply removed and replaced with a new one in the ship, and the spent unit taken away for decommissioning and reprocessing.
Privately funded and headquartered in London, newcleo was launched in 2021 – and since raised a total of EUR 400m – to be an innovator in the field of nuclear energy. Its mission is to generate safe, clean, economic and practically inexhaustible energy for the world, through a radically innovative combination of existing, accessible technologies.
Fincantieri is one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups, the only one active in all high-tech marine industry sectors. I
RINA, leading certification company and engineering company in Italy.