A Lloyd’s Register-led study with the Port of Rotterdam Authority, CORE POWER and A.P. Moller - Maersk has concluded that existing port safety and risk-management regimes could provide the first framework for assessing nuclear-powered feeder ship calls at a major European port, according to Lloyd’s Register.
The desktop study, built around Rotterdam as a case study, examined a defined feeder vessel concept, an assumed operating profile, a port-call scenario and the regulatory context for nuclear-powered commercial shipping. It found that the main obstacles are not limited to vessel technology.
The report points to regulatory alignment, governance, nuclear-specific safety and security, emergency preparedness, liability, insurance, operational integration and public acceptance as issues that would need to be addressed before routine commercial operation could be considered.
The study says current IMO provisions for nuclear-powered ships were written for an earlier era and would need to be modernised before any civil commercial nuclear propulsion pathway could be developed.
CORE POWER chief executive Mikal Bøe said port-city confidence in nuclear-powered merchant ship calls would be central to the success of civil maritime nuclear propulsion. He said the work had identified a port safety framework and a starting point for assessment as the IMO reviews the Safety Code for Nuclear Ships and the IAEA prepares to launch its ATLAS programme.
Rotterdam harbour master René de Vries said the study was an initial case assessment of the regulatory, operational and safety issues linked to nuclear-powered commercial shipping in a European port context.
A.P. Moller - Maersk head of fleet technology Ole Graa Jakobsen said the study “does not represent a decision to pursue nuclear propulsion”, but helps define what ports and authorities would need in order to assess such vessels in a structured way.
Lloyd’s Register is a maritime classification society and technical advisory organisation providing assurance, risk, safety and energy-transition services to the shipping sector.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority is the body responsible for managing, operating and developing the port and industrial complex of Rotterdam.
CORE POWER is a maritime nuclear technology company working on the application of advanced nuclear energy systems for shipping and offshore energy.