Nuclear Power At Sea?

TW: Cargo ships are big and prodigious users of oil, usually highly pollutive dirty oils. What about creating nuke powered ships? Innovators will search for workarounds, perhaps nuke cargo ships will provide an answer.

From Gahlran at Info Dissemination:
"...The head of Chinese shipping giant Cosco has suggested that container ships should be powered by nuclear reactors in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, said to account for 4% of the global total. Shipping companies have gradually been introducing 'super slow steaming', a measure designed to cut fuel consumption and substantially reduce emissions by running engines at very low speed. However, Wei Jiafu, Cosco's president and CEO, speaking at the Senior Maritime Forum of the China International Maritime Exhibition (Marintec China) in Shanghai, said that introducing nuclear-powered ships could be an even cleaner solution. He said, "As they are already onboard submarines, why not cargo ships?" He said that Cosco is in talks with China's nuclear authority to develop nuclear powered freight vessels.

...Let’s begin by noting that a merchant vessel with nuclear power is likely going to be gigantic and will require a highly specialized crew. The costs of operating such a ship will be very high, but with its great size, potential speed, endurance, and cost tradeoffs there may in fact be a lucrative profit margin behind such a vessel. It is also important to note that the vast majority of trained nuclear propulsion experts today are American, so to expect American business interests to immediately dismiss this would be to misunderstand the size, scope, and depth of the discussion.

...What about accidents and piracy? The seas are not immune to Murphy's Law. What happens when a nuclear powered COSCO ship hits a bridge in San Francisco?

...The political ramifications will be enormous, from national security to environment; the range of policy issues will be quite large. Many countries do not allow nuclear powered ships in port, although with ships as large as the ones likely envisioned by COSCO, most countries who object may not have the facilities or the demand to support such large ships. For example, Canada may reject allowing such a ship into their country, but the US may allow nuclear merchant vessels into specific ports. It would be interesting if it ever became more efficient for China to ship into the US on large nuclear ships, then rail cargo into Canada instead of shipping directly to Canada. That is just an example, because I can envision a scenario where Mexico allows huge nuclear ships, and California, Washington, and Oregon did not..."
http://www.informationdissemination.net/2009/12/will-cosco-save-planet-with-nuclear.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InformationDissemination+%28Information+Dissemination%29

Nuke 'Um If You Have Um

TW: I concur with Mr. Bandyk. The left in the U.S. has made a huge mistake opposing so rigorously and almost without equivocation nuclear power. In relative terms (e.g. compared to coal) nuclear can be a far "cleaner" source of power. Unfortunately now after decades of negativity there is a serious NIMBY problem with nuclear. This is one issue where I largely agree with the Republicans.

From Matt Bandyk at US News & World Report:
"...The Democrats may need to offer new permits for nuclear power plants to lure a few Republican votes and avoid a filibuster:

'Maine's moderate Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, are the only likely GOP backers of the legislation at this point, and if Obama needs more Republicans, he may have to authorize Reid to give in for more funding for the construction of the nation's first new nuclear power plants in a generation. The environmental lobby has rigorously opposed any new nuclear plants, but several GOP senators, including Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and John McCain (Ariz.), have made their case that nuclear power is the best for cleaning the skies of carbon emissions.'

I've never understood the kneejerk environmentalist opposition to nuclear power. Loosening regulations on building new plants seems like a commonsense, bipartisan way to increase clean energy production without heavy subsidies. Countries with a much stronger environmentalist bent than the US have embraced nuclear power. Even France gets a majority of its energy from nukes."