@article{GENERAL,
      recid = {11209},
      author = {Wien, T and Meijn, GJ},
      title = {Dynamic Power Behavior of a Nuclear Power Plant integrated  in Naval Vessels},
      journal = {Conference Proceedings of INEC},
      address = {2024-11-06},
      number = {GENERAL},
      abstract = {Nuclear propulsion has recently gained increasing interest  within the maritime sector in the Netherlands and Europe.  According to the Dutch maritime sector policy report "No  Guts, No Hollands Glorie" published in 2023, nuclear energy  can help reduce dependency on fossil fuels and provides a  potential high-energy density energy source for ships  without emitting CO2. The flagship project of the  Netherlands maritime sector policy report ‘nuclear  propulsion for ships’ aims to develop a standardized,  modular nuclear reactor for ship integration within 10  years. While not considered a renewable energy source due  to limited uranium and thorium, nuclear energy remains a  low-carbon option that emits no CO2 during operation, thus  not contributing to climate change. In addition, true  renewable energy sources and alternative fuels have a  significantly lower energy density than current fossil  energy sources. This is not the case for nuclear energy.  Thus, implementing nuclear propulsion would result in  operational advantages for naval vessels as sufficient  energy can be provided for long operational autonomy. Not  only would this improve the strategic autonomy of the Royal  Netherlands Navy, but it would also be a solution for the  increasing energy demands of additional unmanned systems or  advanced combat systems. 

Despite previous use of nuclear  energy on (naval) vessels, implementing the technology in  future (naval) vessels presents challenges, particularly  regarding the dynamic power profile of ships during  operation. Nuclear reactors ashore typically operate as  stable constant power sources, which contrasts with the  fluctuating power demands of ships, especially naval  vessels. Previous research addressed this dynamic behaviour  by applying linear power increase/decrease limits based on  values from literature, which showed significant power peak  shaving capabilities, like batteries or fuel cells, are  required to supply the dynamic power behaviours. This  research aims to investigate the impact of the dynamic  operating profile of naval surface vessels on the ships  energy conversion system, that converts the thermal heat  from the nuclear reactor to energy for propulsion and  auxiliary loads.

Based on the expected outlook for the  development of the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the  anticipation of a small modular reactor (SMR) by 2033,  future air defence and amphibious transport capability  projects were selected as potential vessel types of  interest for the implementation of a SMR. A conceptual  model will be developed to investigate the dynamic response  of the energy conversion system in a maritime nuclear power  plant installation, using a simplified thermal heat model  as a representation of the nuclear power plant. Dynamic  power simulations will assess how the energy conversion  plant can meet the dynamic power requirements of  representative operational power profiles for these  vessels, and what additional peak shaving energy storage  systems are necessary. These findings will contribute to  the required knowledge on integration of a maritime  standardized modular reactor in naval vessels and other  ship types with similar loading profiles, not just for the  Royal Netherlands Navy but also for the entire Dutch and  European maritime sector.
Keywords: nuclear propulsion,  Royal Netherlands Navy, small modular reactors, power  conversion systems, modelling, dynamic power simulations.},
      url = {http://library.imarest.org/record/11209},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.24868/11209},
}