HD Korea Shipbuilding Advances Designs for Large Nuclear-Powered Boxship

HD Hyundai’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) is advancing its efforts towards a large, nuclear-powered containership. The shipbuilding has been working on its project as one of several that believe the new generation of small nuclear reactors will be the solution to maritime decarbonization.

Interest in nuclear-powered propulsion for merchant ships dates back to the 1950s when it was seen to hold great promise. The United States was the first country to successfully build and operate a demonstration cargo-passenger ship, NS Savannah, which provided many insights into the industry but also showed the practical challenges of nuclear propulsion. Japan and Germany also tested concepts but Russia currently is the only c…