Collision safety design and engineering of a concrete-shielded SMR compartment in a 25,800 TEU SMR-powered containership

Abstract

Ongoing debate on civil nuclear power has drawn attention to small modular reactors (SMRs) as a clean and cost-effective energy solution, particularly for marine propulsion and floating nuclear power plants. Ensuring the safety of SMR-powered ships under extreme environmental and accidental scenarios is essential to prevent potential radioactive contamination. This study investigates the structural crashworthiness of a concrete-shielded, double-side, double-bottom, and double-deck SMR compartment in a 25,800 TEU SMR-powered containership subjected to a worst-case ship-to-ship collision, in which the vessel is impacted by the bow of another containership. The ship is designed for a 50-year service life and maintained using a Digital Healthcare Engineering (DHE) system. High-fidelity nonlinear finite element simulations are conducted using LS-DYNA, incorporating steel–concrete interaction and surrounding water effects. The results quantify buckling, yielding, crushing, and fracture responses of the SMR compartment and provide design recommendations to enhance collision safety and structural integrity of SMR-powered ships.