Surveying civilian nuclear-powered vessels deployment from an economic, technological, and nonproliferation perspective

Recognizing the human contribution toward climate change, the international community has pledged to reduce its carbon footprint across multiple sectors, including maritime shipping. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) calculates that changing current propulsion methods to greener alternatives can reduce the industry’s carbon footprint by 6%, which is the equivalent of reducing demand by five billion barrels of oil per year. Alternative technologies such as small nuclear reactors are being considered as green options for the maritime industry. Previous efforts to develop a nuclear merchant fleet resulted in isolated attempts, mainly from one-off experiments from the United States, Japan, and the former Soviet Union. As deployment of small nuclear reactors in maritime shipping becomes a viable strategy for decarbonization, understanding the role of the nonproliferation regime for this peaceful application is critical. Civilian commercial vessels create institutional challenges for non-nuclear weapon states, which may not account for this possible activity in their Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements (CSA) and their regulatory controls for nuclear security under the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (as amended). Although international instruments do not prohibit the use of nuclear maritime propulsion, nuclear fuel in the maritime domain poses novel challenges. Shipping states that own civilian vessels and decide to shift to nuclear-powered vessels may require further awareness of their nonproliferation obligations. Although decarbonizing maritime shipping through peaceful nuclear means is laudable, care needs to be taken to ensure the existing nonproliferation obligations for nuclear security and material safeguards can support this effort and address the challenges that it presents.Recognizing the human contribution toward climate change, the international community has pledged to reduce its carbon footprint across multiple sectors, including maritime shipping. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) calculates that changing current propulsion methods to greener alternatives can reduce the industry’s carbon footprint by 6%, which is the equivalent of reducing demand by five billion barrels of oil per year. Alternative technologies such as small nuclear reactors are being considered as green options for the maritime industry. Previous efforts to develop a nuclear merchant fleet resulted in isolated attempts, mainly from one-off experiments from the United States,