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Feature
Each of the nuclear
technologies will impact
design, training, and
maintenance in different ways
Mark Tipping advocates the integration of nuclear
propulsion into the marine environment as a pathway
to meeting shipping’s net-zero emissions targets.
Can nuclear-powered ships help the mar- What do you think is required to drive
itime industry meet the IMO decar- the adoption of nuclear-powered
bonisation targets by 2050? What ships: technological breakthroughs,
are the pros and cons of nuclear regulatory changes, or demand from
propulsion systems compared to charterers?
conventional ones? The person who buys the technology first
Yes, nuclear propulsion is a true carbon- is always the one who changes the game.
zero technology. We know that if we can The adoption of nuclear-powered ships
integrate it into the marine environment, will be accelerated by changes to the cost
it will help meet the goal of achieving net- of carbon by the IMO and the need for
zero emissions by 2050. energy security. Nuclear energy can pro-
Nuclear propulsion can have many advan- vide energy security for very long periods
tages for clients, depending on the ship- of time, both in terms of cost and avail-
owner’s operating model. What is often ability.
cited as a key advantage of nuclear pro-
pulsion is faster passage times, meaning What are the main technical challenges in
that vessels will no longer be limited by the integrating nuclear power into com-
need to conserve fuel. Nuclear technolo- mercial vessels?
Opinions expressed by gies are so sufficiently energy-dense that This is a complex issue due to the vast
Mark Tipping, they completely remove that constraint. range of vessel types involved and the fact
Global Power to X Director, Since the advent of the propeller and the that there is more than one nuclear tech-
Marine and Offshore, Lloyd’s Register
paddle wheel, bunkering has been the nology being developed for the marine
bane of ship operators’ and crews’ lives. industry. All of these technologies can be
At a stroke, bunkering is turned from a very integrated into ships using the knowledge
regular operation into a maintenance oper- and expertise we already have. This brings
ation. In best-case scenarios, the periods us back to the economic case for all of it.
between bunkering can be measured in To what extent are flag states and port
decades. authorities prepared to handle
Freeing operations from the constraints of nuclear-powered ships?
running out of fuel automatically extends Recently, we have seen both the IMO and
an asset’s operational range and expands the International Energy Agency (IEA)
voyage routes. This is a true game changer advance initiatives for the revision of
for the maritime industry. nuclear guidance and regulation in mar-
Of course, the most significant challenge itime. This will shape how flag states and
facing the sector remains the lack of expe- port authorities start to form their own
rience across all new fuel types, including, views on nuclear propulsion. Lloyd’s Reg-
but not limited to, nuclear. ister is already engaging with these organ-
168 NX
