Nuclear energy in the House of Representatives

The House of Representatives debated yesterday with Minister Sophie Hermans (Ministry of Climate and Green Growth) about the future of nuclear energy in the Netherlands. This is also an increasingly relevant topic for the maritime sector. Especially for large offshore ships and power barges, small modular reactors (SMRs) can be a game changer for sustainability.

The potential of nuclear propulsion is considerable. A ship could sail the world's oceans for years at full power without emissions, without bunkering, and without giant fuel tanks. With the new generation of SMRs, this could also be realized extremely safely and cost-effectively for large ships. This promising future perspective for shipping is the reason nuclear propulsion has been selected as one of the leading projects in the Maritime Manufacturing Industry Sector Agenda. This leading project, NuclearDrive, has now started with broad support from the sector. 

Yesterday it became clear during the debate that Member of Parliament Henri Bontenbal (CDA) also sees potential in nuclear propulsion for shipping. In the closing sentence of his argument, he explicitly asked the minister for support for the maritime leading project. This government support is crucial to actually realize nuclear propulsion in shipping.

Minister Sophie Hermans acknowledged the importance of SMR technology for shipping and expressed her willingness to engage in discussions with the maritime sector. In addition, she wants to explore, in collaboration with her colleagues from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, what concrete steps are needed to further develop this technology and accelerate the building of knowledge.

This commitment is seen as a promising signal in the sector. The application of SMRs can contribute not only to the sustainability of shipping but also to the international competitiveness of the Dutch maritime industry.