Company takes major step on quest for nuclear-powered transportation vessels — here's how it could transform an entire industry
The shipping industry is one of the biggest creators of dirty energy pollution on the planet, yet it's essential to our lives. Determining how we can reduce its impact without negatively affecting people all over the world is one of the great environmental questions of our day. Fortunately, a Norwegian shipbuilding company may have an answer.
Vard, one of the leading specialized shipbuilders on the planet, is teaming up with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Ålesund to reimagine global shipping, according to Interesting Engineering. The plan is to convert fossil-fuel-burning container ships to nuclear power, potentially reducing emissions to zero and extending ship lifespans significantly.
The NuProShip (Nuclear Propulsion in Shipping) Project has the potential to drastically reduce our impact on the environment. The shipping industry is responsible for 3% of all emissions, or around 1 billion metric tons every year, per IE. Those numbers will only continue to grow if an alternative is not reached.
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To determine whether nuclear propulsion is viable for commercial shipping, Vard looked at 99 companies that produce fourth-generation nuclear reactor technology, per IE. It has now narrowed that search down to three different options: two made by U.S. companies and one by a Swedish company. The next step is to integrate the technology with various commercial ships.
It's easy — and, to a degree, fair — to see the words "nuclear power" and feel a bit unnerved. There is significant danger in the use of nuclear power, and that danger has come to fruition before. However, it's important to know that advances in nuclear technology have drastically reduced that danger. In fact, it may be safer than fossil fuels.
Fourth-generation reactors are designed to be safer, more sustainable, and more effective than any before them. They've been made safer by utilizing new fuel types, improving safety features, and eliminating the need for cooling systems.
While the NuProShip Project is still a work in progress, it offers hope that we may solve one of our biggest environmental issues. Reducing the shipping industry's environmental impact without hurting humanity is the kind of progress that environmentalists dream of.
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