- HD KSOE to Offer Nuclear-powered Container Ship Based on SMRs
- India’s Railroads Wants SMRs to Power its Trains
- French Cloud Computer Giant to Spend $10B on Nuclear Powered Data Center
- Type One Fusion Inks Two Major Supply Chain Deals
- Ukraine Plans $600M Purchase Of Russian Nuclear Reactor Equipment From Bulgaria
HD KSOE to Offer Nuclear-powered Container Ship
Conceptual image of the ship design for a 15,000 TEU-class container ship
powered by an SMR. Image: HD Hyundai.
One of South Korea’s major heavy industry firms, Hyundai Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) has announced it is developing a design of a container ship to be powered by a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR). The firm says it has set a goal of having the first of a kind unit built by 2030.
According to various trade press reports, the development was revealed at the New Nuclear for Maritime Houston Summit in the US. It is expected to set of an acceleration of the development of nuclear-powered vessels.
HD KSOE’s design model eliminates the need for engine exhaust systems and fuel tanks, typical of conventional ships. The emissions from bunker oil fueled cargo ships is a significant contributor to carbon emissions in the transportation sector.
By optimizing the space for additional containers, the company says it has improved the ship’s economic efficiency. To ensure safety, a marine radiation shielding system has been applied using a double-tank method with stainless steel.
A collaboration with global energy technology company Baker Hughes has enabled the integration of a supercritical carbon dioxide-based propulsion system, which improves thermal efficiency by nearly 5% compared to existing steam-based propulsion systems. According to the trade press reports, this propulsion technology represents a significant step forward in maritime propulsion, enabling higher energy efficiency even at relatively low temperatures and pressures.
HD KSOE is planning to establish a marine nuclear demonstration facility at its Future Technology Test Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, to verify the safety designs of the nuclear-powered vessels.
At the site there will be a parallel SMR land-based reactor project in collaboration with TerraPower. Last December Hyundai and TerraPower inked a deal for HD KSOE to build the reactor cores for the TerraPower’s Natrium [tm] 345 MW sodium cooled advanced SMR. The first of a kind unit is slated to be built at the site of a closed coal fired power plant in a remote corner of southwest Wyoming.
HD KSOE’s Green Energy Research Lab head Park Sangmin said: “HD KSOE is strengthening cooperation not only with major classification societies but also with international regulatory bodies to establish international regulations necessary for the commercialization of nuclear-powered vessels. Starting with the land-based SMR reactor manufacturing project, we aim to develop a marine nuclear business model by 2030.”
He added that the “progress made by HD KSOE signals a new era for the maritime industry, where nuclear-powered ships could play a key role in reducing carbon emissions and optimizing operational costs in an increasingly decarbonizing maritime market.”
Marine Standards Group Approves Hyundai Design
HD KSOE, part of HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding sector, has received approval in principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) class container ship design. This model is said to provide “enhanced” economic efficiency and safety, featuring actual equipment and safety design concepts, according to the company.
“Nuclear-powered vessels can be a game-changer in the current shipbuilding market, where carbon neutrality is emerging,” said Patrick Ryan, Chief Technology Officer of ABS.
“The classification society has conducted studies for the U.S. on the future of nuclear propulsion. Ryan said, “ABS and HD KSOE will contribute to accelerating the commercialization of marine nuclear technology in the global shipbuilding market.”
According to a report in World Nuclear News, in October 2023, a design for a floating offshore nuclear power barge from HD KSOE and KEPCO Engineering & Construction (Kepco E&C) received approval in principle from ABS. Project collaborators included ABS, HD KSOE, Kepco E&C and the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry. The floating SMR barge is intended to serve as offshore power generation for remote communities and island electrification.
In January 2024, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Lloyd’s Register, Zodiac Maritime, HD KSOE and KEPCO E&C for the development of nuclear-propelled ship designs, including bulk carriers and container ships. Under the joint development project, HD KSOE and KEPCO E&C will provide designs for future vessels and reactors while Lloyd’s Register will assess rule requirements for safe operation and regulatory compliance models.
Hyundai Invests $30M in TerraPower for MCFR SMR for Marine Use
The following month, HD KSOE announced plans to develop an SMR for use in shipping in cooperation with the UK’s Core Power and the USA’s Southern Company and TerraPower. In November 2022, HD Hyundai invested $30 million in TerraPower. The reactor to be jointly developed centers around TerraPower’s Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) design. An iteration of the MCFR – known as the m-MSR – intended for marine use is being developed by TerraPower.
By leveraging the capabilities that its subsidiary Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. has in nuclear power, KSOE plans to explore new business opportunities, and lead the development of future technology in offshore nuclear power generation and nuclear-powered vessels.
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India’s Railroads Wants SMRs to Power its Trains
Indian railways has approached the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and the Ministry of Power for the allocation of nuclear energy to meet its increasing power requirement. According to English language news media reports, the railroads said the power requirement of the Indian Railways (IR) “is increasing consistently year on year. IR is exploring all the possible options of energy including nuclear energy.”
Typical electrified rail equipment in service. Image: India Ministry of Railways
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “IR has been exploring the option of sourcing power from existing as well as upcoming nuclear power plants to meet part of its traction power requirement.”
Indian Railways has been seen as a potential joint venture partner for nuclear projects for some time. In 2017 NPCIL said it planned a joint venture with the state-owned railroad enterprise.
The state-owned atomic energy agency said in a statement, “The nuclear power being clean and reliable source of power will help IR in reducing the dependence on fossil fuels, thereby reducing carbon emissions. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and Ministry of Power have been approached for allocation of nuclear power to IR.”
Electric rail transportation was first introduced in India all the way back in 1925, when a 16km section of railway was electrified to provide a rapid suburban service from the suburbs of Mumbai (then Bombay) into the city.
Between independence in 1947 and the early years of the 21st century, electrification efforts were largely focused on commuter and major intercity lines. Around 40,000km have been electrified since 2014, versus 21,801 in all the years prior to 2014. With 94% of lines electrified as of January 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that Indian Railways will achieve 100% electrification.
India is far ahead of the European Union, the UK, and the US on rail electrification. As per Energy Monitor and Indian railways data, Indian Railways are 95% electrified, as compared to 56% in the EU, 38% in the UK and just 1% in the US. Switzerland, however, is 99 per cent electrified. The degree of electrification depends in large part on high population density needed to support passenger as well as freight service.
Currently, India’s railways mostly take electricity from the grid and 70-80% of the power plants use thermal coke to generate power with accompanying CO2 emissions and air pollution.
India’s SMR Developers Have Ambitious Plans
According to World Nuclear News, Indian power companies Tata Power and the Naveen Jindal Group have each expressed interest in setting up small modular reactors (SMRs) for the purpose of exclusively powering India’s rail lines and to expand the use of electrified lines throughout the country.
According to reports in the Indian press citing a statement from the company, the Naveen Jindal Group of companies has set up a new subsidiary, Jindal Nuclear Power Private Limited, with ambitious plans to build 18 GWe of nuclear capacity in the country over the next several decades with expected investments equivalent to some $21 billion.
“Jindal Nuclear is the first in the private sector to express interest in investing in nuclear power to accelerate India’s transition to a low-carbon economy, providing reliable, round-the-clock CO2-free energy,” the company said, adding that the program will incorporate a “diverse mix” of advanced technologies, including Bharat Small Reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs), and Gen IV reactors, as they reach deployment readiness.
French SMRs for India
The BBC reported that India and France have agreed to open India’s nuclear energy marker for French SMRs. India and France plan to work together on developing small modular nuclear reactors, India’s foreign ministry said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country.
Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of nuclear energy for “strengthening energy security” and transitioning towards a “low-carbon economy”.
It comes days after Delhi announced plans to change its strict nuclear liability law, which holds operators accountable for accidents or incidents and has been blamed for delays to previous nuclear projects.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the aim was to initiate “cooperation” with France as modular reactor technology was “still in its initial stages.”
The French government last year abandoned a design for an advanced SMR and said was starting over with a design based on light water reactor configurations.
India has committed to building PHWR type nuclear reactors with plans for a 10 reactor fleet of 700 MW units and as many as 40-50 220 MW units. France has no experience with PHWR reactors. All of its current fleet of full size reactors, built, and planned for the for the future, are light water designs.
Modi also discussed potential nuclear investments by US firms during his visit to Washington last week. Westinghouse has been keen to enter the Indian market, but its plans to do so have been thwarted by India’s supplier liability law.
In his visit to the US PM Modi said the law would be amended to allow US firms to enter the Indian nuclear market. He also discussed the need for India to complete a 123 Agreement with the US to allow US nuclear firms to ink export agreements with NPCIL.
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French Cloud Computer Giant to Spend $10B on Nuclear Powered Data Centers
- Cloud Company Signs Agreement To Use Nuclear Energy For One Of World’s Largest Supercomputers In France
- Initial €10 billion investment will establish data center and position country as a global leader in artificial intelligence
Fluidstack, founded in 2017 at Oxford University in England, said the project positions France as a premier global AI hub, offering computer capacity for next-generation AI models.
Fluidstack said in a statement it would make an initial €10bn ($10.3bn) investment for Phase 1 of the project with 1 GW of compute power and plans to expand beyond that by 2028. It said the supercomputer would have “a net-zero carbon footprint, powered by nuclear energy and leveraging waste heat recovery.”
The firm did not say whether it would provide financing for new nuclear power plants, including SMRs, or rely solely on power purchase agreements with existing reactors. The share of generation from France’s fleet of 56 nuclear plants last year was about 62% – the highest in the world.
The MOU was announced at the AI Action Summit convened in Paris by president Emanuel Macron, who said France is “the leading European country in artificial intelligence”.
The Fluidstack plans will expand Europe’s AI-computing capabilities to rival a vast expansion happening in the US. The project rivals the planned Stargate project in the US, backed by SoftBank and OpenAI. Stargate is starting with a campus in Texas initially fed by 200 MW of power, with plans to expand to 1.2 GW.
EDF Identifies Four Possible Sites For Data Centers
At Macron’s AI summit, France’s state power company and nuclear plant operator EDF said it has pre-identified four industrial sites for data center operators, on its own land, with a total power already available estimated at 2 GW.
“The identification of land areas is continuing with the aim of retaining two additional sites by 2026,” EDF said in a statement.
EDF said it would launch a call for expressions of interest from digital companies to use the sites for new data centers. It did not say whether the sites were nuclear sites, but it did say thanks to France’s energy mix mainly composed of nuclear and renewables, electricity is “abundant, competitive and low-carbon.”
France has ambitious plans for new nuclear power plants. Last year EDF said it was aiming to begin preparatory works for two new EPR2 nuclear plants at the existing Penly nuclear site in northern France.
The Penly EPR2s would be part of a program announced by Macron in 2022 for a “rebirth” of France’s nuclear industry with the possible construction of 14 EPR2 units and operating extensions for older nuclear plants from 40 years to 50 years or more.
Last month the UK said it was planning special districts for constructing data centers and will explore dedicating nuclear energy to the sites as part of a Labor government project to boost technology growth and the ecosystem for artificial intelligence.
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Type One Fusion Inks Two Major Supply Chain Deals
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Type One Energy Sign Fusion Magnet Agreement
The licensing and manufacturing agreement allows Type One Energy to efficiently design proprietary stellarator fusion magnets by levering CFS’ leadership in the development and manufacturing of some of the strongest fusion magnets in the world.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and Type One Energy announced an agreement that gives Type One Energy an exclusive license to use CFS’ high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable technology in the development of its own proprietary stellarator fusion magnets. The agreement also gives Type One Energy the benefit of the experience CFS has in manufacturing the world’s most powerful HTS fusion magnets.
The leading magnet technology from CFS has been proven to generate very high magnetic fields with HTS cable designs that can support Type One Energy’s development of magnets for its Infinity Two fusion power plant.
Type One Energy’s agreement with CFS is part of a supply chain strategy by establishing strong industry partnerships. The agreement between the two companies also expands the market for CFS’ magnet business by aligning with the leading stellarator fusion company in the market, Type One Energy.
CFS is the only fusion company in the world able to manufacture at scale magnets that use its superconducting cable technology. These magnets are built to carry strong electrical currents and to withstand powerful physical and electromagnetic forces within operating fusion machines. CFS has proven that these magnets will work under rigorous conditions, not only through peer-reviewed research but under real conditions in full-scale magnetic coils.
“Our agreement with CFS represents the best of cooperative relationships within the fusion industry,” said Christofer Mowry, CEO of Type One Energy. “We get unique access to leading manufacturing capabilities and the HTS cable background technology that our company would otherwise need to recreate, reducing risk, cost, and schedule in the development and delivery of our own stellarator fusion magnets.”
- Pine Island New Energy Partners and Type One Energy Announce Supply Chain Deal
Pine Island New Energy Partners (PINEP), a private equity firm, and Type One Energy, the leading stellarator fusion company in the market, announced their strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of a more robust supply chain for the fusion energy industry.
As the global fusion sector moves aggressively toward commercialization, the need to refine and scale the supply of specialized components and advanced manufacturing capabilities is more urgent than ever. Through this collaboration, PINEP can better provide the capital and management assistance needed to enable these fusion industry supplier chain companies to meet the needs of the growing fusion industry.
The role of Type One Energy is that of an advisory institutional operating partner, working together with PINEP to identify and evaluate companies which have the technology and expertise, such as manufacturing high-temperature superconductors, providing advanced materials, and performing precision manufacturing, to grow and succeed in this emerging market.
Chris Good, Managing Partner at Pine Island New Energy Partners said, “Our strategy focuses on growth-stage supply chain companies that produce critical technologies serving both fusion and the broader electrification markets. By working with Type One Energy’s technical team, we can better evaluate and support companies that will be crucial to this transformative industry.”
This announcement follows the recent announcement that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Type One Energy will jointly develop and evaluate a fusion power plant project in the Tennessee Valley region, with TVA building and operating the plant using Type One Energy stellarator fusion power technology.
The company’s collaboration with PINEP will strengthening the supply chain necessary to build Infinity Two as well as scale the broader fusion industry to meet the more than $1T/year global market demand for 20,000 GW of safe, abundant, clean fusion energy.
“To bring fusion energy to the global energy markets, we need to cultivate an efficient, reliable, and innovative world-wide supply chain,” said Chris Mowry, CEO of Type One Energy. “By partnering with PINEP, we can combine our fusion industry knowledge with their expertise to address this challenge in a more practical way.”
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Ukraine’s Parliament Backs Purchase Of Russian Nuclear Reactor Equipment From Bulgaria for $600 Million
- Move will enable Kyiv to complete two Russia-designed VVER units at Khmelnitski
- Ukraine is planning to complete Units 3 and 4 at the Khmelnitski nuclear power station.
(NucNet) Ukraine’s parliament has voted to support a draft bill allowing Kyiv to buy Russian-made reactor equipment from Bulgaria for $600 million to use used for the completion of Units 3 and 4 at the Khmelnitski nuclear power station.
Khmelnitski nuclear power station location. Map: Wikipedia
Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko welcomed the decision, saying it will enable the completion of the two additional units, adding about 2,200 MW to Ukraine’s energy grid.
Ukraine has a fleet of 15 commercial nuclear plants although six, at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, are in cold shutdown.
Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom is planning to complete Units 3 and 4 at Khmelnitski, about 300 km west of the capital Kyiv in western Ukraine. Both are Russia-designed VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor (PWR) units.
Construction was suspended three decades ago. Construction of Khmelnitski-3 and -4 was abandoned in 1990 in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl accident in then Soviet Ukraine and because of financial shortages. According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, construction of the third unit is 80% complete while the fourth is at 25%. There are already two Russia-supplied VVER plants at the site that began operation in 1988 and 2005.
The plan is to buy reactor equipment that was produced by Russia for the abandoned Belene nuclear power station project in Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s parliament approved negotiations to sell the reactor equipment in July 2023.
Bulgaria Wants €600 Million For Equipment
Bulgarian officials have said they would want no less than$618 million for the equipment, which is stored at the planned Belene nuclear station site in northern Bulgaria.
Bulgaria received the equipment for the two units, including two reactor pressure vessel and steam generator sets, from Russia in 2018 after settling a Russian compensation claim to the International Court of Arbitration in 2016 for €620 million resulting from the cancellation of the Belene project in 2012.
The plans to complete the plants is controversial in Ukraine’s legislative body over concerns about finances and the fact that the plants could be targets, while under construction, by Russia which would undo all the planned work to complete the units.
International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi said last week that the agency “stands ready” to support Kyiv’s plans to expand Khmelnitski.
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