Cleaner energy may power ships (and more) in the future if the Italian startup Newcleo is successful in commercializing its small fission power plants.
The Maritime Executive reported that the company recently unveiled its concept for these power plants — designed with the help of firm Pininfarina and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri — at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, where the company displayed a full-scale representation of its product.
Though Newcleo only launched in 2021, it has acquired over $600 million in private funding and has been hard at work on design concepts for the next stage of fission power plants, intending to redefine nuclear power's social image and enhance nuclear safety.
The fission energy used in the product occurs when a large atom splits into smaller ones. Splitting an atom releases a significant amount of energy, and when that energy is released slowly and in a controlled manner, it can be harnessed to generate electricity.
Newcleo's fission power plants offer an energy source cleaner than fossil fuels and designed to address problems associated with traditional nuclear power. The company's concept introduces passive safety via a lead cooling system to avoid potential accidents. If an accident occurred, the liquid lead would come into contact with cold water and solidify, creating a solid casing around the reactor core that would prevent radiation leaks.
"We believe the lead-cooled Fast Reactors technology is the most promising," Newcleo stated, according to The Maritime Executive. "In fact, lead characteristics enable design simplification (which in turn has economic benefits) and a high degree of inherent safety."
Additionally, the fission power plant features a multicycle system that allows for the burning of nuclear waste, resulting in cheaper, cleaner, and virtually endless energy.
When it comes to powering ships, Newcleo posits that vessels could use the closed mini-reactor as a small nuclear battery. With it, refueling would only need to happen once every decade or so, ships would only be required to perform limited maintenance on them, and the power plants would be easily replaceable at the end of their lives.
Incorporating Newcleo's product into ships (and other applications in the future) would save companies and governments an immense amount of money that they would otherwise spend on fuel and maintenance. If these power plants become widely adopted in everyday life, it could result in lower energy bills for consumers, as well.
Best of all, the use of these power plants could improve global sustainability.
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Should we be pouring money into nuclear fusion technology? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Yes — it'll pay off 👍 With a nearly inexhaustible and cheaper clean energy source, fewer dirty energy sources, such as oil and coal, would be used, reducing the amount of carbon pollution released into the atmosphere. Since such emissions increase global temperatures and contribute to the spread of diseases by destabilizing ecosystems, a reduction could lead to fewer health problems in communities.
While there is no word on when these power plants could be available, the possibilities for such a product are intriguing.
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