This is from last year, but it's an interesting article about using nuclear power for the shipping industry. This feels like a really easy win, and despite the initial costs, I can't imagine it wouldn't save fuel costs tremendously. And it's not like it's a crazy idea, navy's have been power their fleets with it for over half a century.
Quote:
As Gary Hoe points out, when steaming all-ahead-flank on all four screws, launching aircraft off all three steam catapults, cooking 4,500 meals for lunch, and desalinating sea water into fresh, the Kennedy got 13 inches to the gallon of marine distillate fuel oil.
That meant 1000 gallons were burned for the Kennedy just to travel its own length. Or over 125 million gallons to circumnavigate the Pacific Ocean once.
The Ike uses almost no fuel to carry out the same mission. The Ike steamed for 20 years on a chunk of uranium the size of a grapefruit, and is still active today. The Kennedy is mothballed.
Besides fuel savings, nuclear powered ships go about 50% faster than oil-fired ships of the same size. For the shipping industry, the increased number of runs per year, and the increased profits, appear to more than offset the increased operational costs of nuclear, according to an analysis by researchers at Penn State.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesco...ar-propulsion/
The real question is, why are they not already doing this?