Norway’s Knutsen OAS is considering equipping one of its LNG tankers with a small modular reactor (SMR) as a propulsion system. If successful, the project could revolutionize not only gas transport but the entire shipping industry, which has struggled for decades to adopt nuclear power for civilian vessels.
The plan is part of a broader Norwegian initiative funded by the Oslo government and coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The goal is to assess the commercial and technical feasibility of using SMR technology in maritime shipping. Two other projects under the same program include building small floating nuclear power plants and a vessel for offshore operations.
As a test platform, the company plans to use the 2004-built LNG carrier Cadiz Knutsen, a 284-meter-long vessel. The idea is to keep the existing engine room and turbines but replace the two conventional boilers with two KP-FHR reactors – high-temperature reactors cooled with fluoride salt. This technology, developed by the US firm Kairos Power, is already being deployed on land, with a demonstration unit under construction in Oak Ridge.
Advantages and challenges of SMR-powered ships
According to the project developers, using SMRs would bring significant benefits. – Decarbonisation of shipping is the biggest advantage. The vessels would also become lighter and require fewer crew members in the engine room, allowing for higher cruising speeds – said a researcher from NTNU involved in the project.
However, the transition to nuclear propulsion comes with major hurdles. Crew training would need to be overhauled, and port infrastructure adapted. The most critical unknown is the cost. Although SMRs are expected to be far cheaper than traditional shipboard nuclear reactors, no reliable cost estimates for such vessels exist yet. – The balance of costs will determine whether this technology can ever become mainstream – added the researcher.
A history of failures in civilian nuclear shipping
Nuclear propulsion at sea will celebrate its 70th anniversary in two years. It has been used on over 250 ships, but almost exclusively military vessels – submarines and aircraft carriers – or militarised ones like Russia’s nuclear icebreakers. Civilian attempts have been disastrous. The US NS Savannah cost $46.9 million, with $28.3 million spent on its reactor and fuel; it served only a decade. Japan’s NS Mutsu never carried a single commercial cargo due to public protests. Germany’s NS Otto Hahn was retrofitted with a diesel engine after failing to transit the Panama Canal. Russia’s NS Sevmorput, once the only operational nuclear cargo ship, has been idle in Murmansk since 2025.
The military values nuclear power for its unlimited range, but civilian shipping rarely needs it since vessels must call at ports frequently anyway. The technical feasibility of fitting an SMR into an LNG tanker is under study, but even if the test succeeds, widespread adoption will depend on costs, safety regulations, and public acceptance. A nuclear-powered LNG tanker calling at Świnoujście is no longer science fiction – but it still faces a long, uncertain journey.
Źródło: wnp.pl, Fot. Shutterstock
