The Marine Nuclear Propulsion System (MarNuPS) pilot project has secured NOK 20m (US$ 2m) in initial funding from the Research Council of Norway as partners prepare to move maritime nuclear propulsion from system development towards physical integration and testing.
Led by Emerald Nuclear Norway, MarNuPS brings together Vard Group, Vard Electro, Island Offshore, NTNU, Imperial College London and Maskindynamikk in a consortium spanning reactor technology, ship design and integration, vessel operations, automation and academic research. The Research Council support comes in addition to substantial self-financing by the project partners. Stage 1 of the programme alone has an estimated total cost of around NOK 150m.
Hallgeir Juliebø, Co-Founder and CCO Emerald Nuclear and Chairman, Emerald Nuclear Norway, said: “This award is evidence of validation and momentum rather than the scale of the ambition. The partners are already making a substantial commitment to MarNuPS, and this support gives the programme additional backing as we move from design and analysis towards building and testing a complete integrated system. It’s only the beginning of a longer development and qualification process, but it demonstrates that maritime nuclear propulsion is now being pursued as a serious industrial project.”
The MarNuPS Pilot will integrate Emerald Nuclear’s 5MWe Gem microreactor technology with energy storage, power conversion, vessel power management, automation and bridge control systems. Stage 1, planned for 2027, will establish an integrated test facility at Stette outside Ålesund. A full-scale representation of the shipboard propulsion system will be assembled and tested using electric heating instead of nuclear fuel, allowing the partners to study how the different systems perform together under conditions representative of vessel operations. Testing will cover normal operation, rapid changes in power demand, transient and stress conditions, system performance and crew interaction.
Island Offshore plans to be the first shipowner to install the reactor and energy system, with vessel deployment targeted for 2031/32.
Tommy Walaunet, CEO Island Offshore, said: “Nuclear energy has the potential to provide a new route to decarbonising offshore vessels without compromising the power, endurance and operational flexibility these ships require. Our role is to ensure that the system is developed around real offshore operations and the people who will ultimately use it. Our ambition is to be the first shipowner to install the system and demonstrate its potential in practice.”
The partners bring complementary expertise: Emerald Nuclear in reactor technology and nuclear integration; Vard Group in ship design and integration; Vard Electro in power management and automation; Island Offshore in vessel operations and crew input; NTNU in nuclear and thermo-hydraulic modelling; Imperial College London in structural integrity; and Maskindynamikk in instrumentation, diagnostics and condition monitoring.
MarNuPS builds on several years of Norwegian research into maritime nuclear propulsion, including the NTNU-led NuProShip programme, in which Emerald Nuclear is also a partner. It is also an important element in the demonstration project tied to SFI Saint – Sustainable, Applied and Industrialised Nuclear Technology, the national research centre that has received NOK 96m from the Research Council alongside around NOK 200m in industry contributions. Emerald Nuclear is a Tier 1 Saint member. Together, these programmes are moving Norway’s maritime nuclear effort from research and feasibility towards industrialisation, testing and eventual vessel deployment.
Image: Hallgeir Juliebø, Co-Founder and CCO Emerald Nuclear (credit: Emerald Nuclear Norway)
