Korean shipping lines to develop nuclear-powered ships

A host of Korean shipping lines including HMM, Sinokor and H-Line Shipping along with the nation’s class society are pressing ahead with plans to develop nuclear-powered merchant ships.

Recently, the CEOs of the shipping lines along with the Korean Register, the Nuclear Research Institute and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute met in Gyeongju City to discuss how to develop small module nuclear reactors for ships.

An agreement was signed to establish a cooperative basis for future commercialisation through the development and demonstration of atomic technology for large ship propulsion with a focus on molten salt reactors (MSRs).

The atomic news comes as the nation’s top yards, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, are also developing their own nuclear-powered ship designs.

Since January 21 1954, there have been over 700 nuclear reactors built and operated around the world. About half of these have been operated at sea.

Across the world, there are now many nuclear shipping projects under way.