How do molten salt reactors work? 🧐
For over a century, Ulstein has been involved in designing and building ships and delivering sustainable maritime solutions. The maritime industry is staring at a major overhaul in its bid to electrify transport over the waters, and Ulstein may just have the solution, a molten salt reactor that can deliver this vision.An MSR uses a naturally occurring metal with low radioactivity to produce electricity.
"MSRs have enormous potential for enabling clean shipping. There is so much uncertainty over future fuels, but here we have an abundant energy source that, with the right approach, can be safe, much more efficient, cheaper, with a smaller environmental footprint than any existing alternative," noted Jan Emblemsvåg, an expert in the field of thorium and nuclear power generation and a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said in the press release.
For demonstration purposes, Ulstein has also developed an Ice Class expedition vessel called SIF that will be powered by next-generation batteries. The 328 feet long expedition vessel has a capacity of 160 members, with 80 members of the crew and 80 passengers and the capability to tread the Arctic and Antarctic waters.