Switzerland-based ABB and Swedish nuclear energy company Blykalla have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support and accelerate the deployment of small modular lead-cooled reactors to the maritime industry. This is based on an earlier MOU signed in October 2024, which targets developing lead-cooled SMR technology to support Sweden’s energy development. The new agreement expands the partnership in the context of the growing momentum for nuclear energy as a marine power source.
In June, International Maritime Organisation administrations at the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 1102) approved recommendations to amend the Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships to account for advances in nuclear technology including SMRs.
Blykalla’s Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor (SEALER) is a fast compact reactor with passive safety. Each reactor will have a 55 MWe capacity, which can be increased by installing multiple units at the same location. The reactor is designed with the smallest possible core that can achieve criticality in a fast spectrum using 19.9% enriched nitride fuel.
It was one of three reactors identified in the Nuclear Propulsion for Merchant Ships I (NuProShip I) project, which aims to adapt a Generation IV SMR to the requirements of maritime vessels – in particular larger ships. Blykalla said ABB’s expertise in system integration as well as power distribution, control, and automation technologies, will be key to ensuring the successful deployment of the SMR as a shipboard solution.
“We’re pleased to extend our partnership with ABB into this strategically important vertical,” said Blykalla CEO Jacob Stedman. “With our compact reactor design, we see a unique opportunity to lead the way in maritime nuclear propulsion – a solution uniquely positioned to meet the sector’s demand for clean energy. Realising this vision will require an ecosystem of committed partners, and this collaboration is a critical building block.”
Juha Koskela, President of ABB’s Marine & Ports Division said: “SMRs hold significant potential to drive decarbonisation, and our collaboration with Blykalla will help to advance their viability in maritime applications. Next-generation SMRs will enable innovative ship designs that can help to reduce emissions compared to vessels powered by carbon-based fuels.”
ABB, formed from the merger of ASEA of Sweden and BBC of Switzerland in 1988, has 475 offices in 86 countries around the world. Blykalla founded in 2013 and formerly called Leadcold, is a spin-off from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
According to Blykalla’s website SEALER “is a passively safe reactor designed for commercial power production in a highly compact format. Its fuel is never replaced during operation, which minimizes costs related to fuel management. The integrity of steel surfaces exposed to liquid lead is ensured by use of alumina forming alloys. Passive safety is ensured by removal of decay heat from the core by natural convection of the lead coolant. In the event of a core disruptive accident, volatile fission products are retained in the lead coolant and no evacuation of persons residing at the site boundary would be required.”
The website has further details on the benefits of liquid lead as a coolant and the advantages of uranium nitride fuel but nothing about fast reactor technology. Blykalla does not give a timeline for development of SEALER. In 2016, LeadCold (now Blykalla) entered Phase 1 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s pre-licence review. The aim was to receive a licence for construction in Canada by the end of 2021, intending to have the first SEALER-unit ready for operation in 2025. Clearly this objective has not been achieved – no surprise given the extreme complexity of fast reactor technology, and in particular lead-cooled fast reactor technology. Only Russia has mastered this – initially with its Alfa-class submarines with lead-bismuth cooled fast reactors in the 1970s and 1980s and now with its land-based civil Brest reactor due to begin operation in 2029.
