South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Danish Seaborg have signed a partnership to build floating nuclear power stations based on Seaborg’s compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) technology. The agreement covers the construction of hydrogen and ammonia plants.
The strategic partnership’s goal is to build and sell turn-key power plants that can be moored at industrial ports and connected to the electric grid on land. A hydrogen or ammonia production facility next to the floating nuclear power station, using CO2-free fission energy to make hydrogen and ammonia, is an alternative method.
The floating nuclear power station is modular and can produce up to 800 MW of electricity over a 24-year period.
“CMSR is a carbon-free energy source that can efficiently respond to climate change issues and is a next-generation technology that meets the vision of Samsung Heavy Industries. In addition, when an abnormal signal occurs inside the reactor, the liquid nuclear fuel, molten salt, is solidified to prevent serious accidents at the source, and provides high safety and high-efficiency power and hydrogen production at the same time,” stated Jintaek Jeong, president of Samsung Heavy, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders.
In related news, Samsung Heavy has announced that it has created an onboard carbon capture system in collaboration with fellow countryman Panasia, which has recently gotten a letter of approval in principle from the class society Korean Registery, with the goal of commercializing the product by 2024.
