There seems to have been a recent surge of interest in nuclear power afloat. Most of this is coming from the major classification societies – all have recently published studies which confirm the viability of nuclear as an emission-free power source. And shipbuilders and designers are starting to come up with firm proposals. 

It is tempting to speculate on why this might be. After all, the focus has been on using future fuels like ammonia, methanol or hydrogen, with ‘bridging’ fuels like LNG and bio-diesel being promoted to fill the gap between realisation on the need to cut emissions – both quickly and significantly – and the alternative fuels becoming available. 

It’s true to say that the green revolution has - temporarily we hope - stalled. Some of this feeling is no doubt down to the still-unanswered questions of when, and how, supplies of future fuels will be available in the quantities, and at affordable cost, to satisfy the considerable demands of the world’s shipping fleet alongside other hard-to-abate industries. And if we look at the ‘green’ versions of these fuels, produced using solely renewable energy, the goal looks even more ambitious. Then there are the concerns over safety and toxicity of these fuels that still have to be overcome.