Reports indicate that China has recently unveiled an ambitious plan to construct a 14,000 TEU container ship powered by a thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR), marking a significant step forward in commercial nuclear propulsion technology for vessels.
The report states that the container ship concept was jointly developed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and China National Nuclear Corporation. It will be equipped with a new-generation reactor, aiming to achieve zero-emission propulsion and extend the vessel’s operational range.
According to the preliminary design report by Shanghai Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI), this container vessel will not rely on conventional marine fuels. Instead, it will be powered entirely by a closed-loop TMSR system, which is projected to generate hundreds of megawatts of thermal energy.
Project sources indicate that the design phase for this container vessel will be completed in 2026, with construction expected to commence at CSSC-affiliated shipyards toward the end of this decade.
If the project is implemented, the vessel will become the world’s first container vessel utilizing thorium molten salt technology—a technology long favored by Chinese nuclear engineers for its superior safety, efficiency, and scalability compared to traditional uranium reactors.
Despite nuclear-powered vessels offering advantages in endurance, environmental performance, and operational efficiency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has yet to establish a specific regulatory framework for the operation of nuclear-powered merchant vessels, and international regulatory barriers remain significant.
In the field of nuclear-powered container vessels, in 2023, CSSC’s Jiangnan Shipyard unveiled a design proposal for a 24,000 TEU ultra-large container vessel utilizing fourth-generation molten salt reactor technology. This vessel design features high safety standards, with the reactor operating at high temperatures and low pressures. Its design inherently avoids core meltdown, incorporating anti-proliferation and inherent safety characteristics.
In terms of technological support, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on November 1st that the 2-megawatt liquid-fuel thorium-based molten salt experimental reactor, led by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has achieved the first successful conversion of thorium-uranium nuclear fuel into molten salt nuclear fuel.
This experimental reactor has not only obtained experimental data worldwide for the first time after thorium was put into the molten salt reactor for operation and become the only operating molten salt reactor that has achieved thorium fuel loading so far, but also initially proved the technical feasibility of utilizing thorium resources in the molten salt reactor nuclear energy system. These series of breakthroughs have further consolidated China’s leading position in the international research field of molten salt reactors.
Notably, this breakthrough by the Chinese Academy of Sciences will provide core technological support for the development of thorium-powered container vessels, resolving key technical feasibility issues for nuclear-powered vessel propulsion systems.