Commercial Maritime Nuclear Power: Mobile Energy and Propulsion at Scale

Maritime nuclear power presents a fundamentally different model for energy: one that is mobile, continuous, and independent of both fixed infrastructure and fuel supply chains.

This idea is not new, but the applications and scale are. The United States Navy has operated a fleet of more than 160 nuclear-powered vessels for decades, demonstrating that ships powered by nuclear reactors can run for years without refueling. Today, that same capability is being reconsidered for a very different purpose: enabling zero-emissions propulsion for a global shipping industry under pressure to decarbonize. At the same time, floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) are being developed to deliver reliable, high-density energy to places where traditional infrastructure cannot reach or needs to be more reliable—remote islands, offshore energy operations, military bases, and regions recovering from natural disasters.

Taken together, these technologies reflect a key shift in the global energy ecosystem. Across industries—from oil and gas to mining, shipping, and data centers—operators are facing the same constraint: they need large amounts of reliable, always-on power in locations where building conventional infrastructure is slow, costly, or simply not feasible. Governments face a parallel challenge, seeking to strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on volatile fuel supply chains, and deploy clean energy in strategically important regions.

Maritime nuclear offers a potential solution to these converging pressures. Its appeal lies in its unique combination of attributes: continuous, high-density energy; long operating cycles without refueling; and the ability to be deployed where needed rather than where infrastructure already exists. These features enable long-duration, resilient operations in environments where conventional energy solutions are either impractical or prohibitively expensive.

Below we examine two primary applications of maritime nuclear—floating nuclear power plants and nuclear-propelled ships—and the regulatory and institutional coordination required to enable their deployment at scale.

Floating nuclear power plants: A buoyant solution for global deployment

FNPPs are floating vessels outfitted with nuclear reactors designed to supply electricity, heat, and industrial energy products such as hydrogen or desalinated water. They can be constructed in shipyards using modular, assembly-line techniques and then towed to coastal or remote deployment sites where the construction of large nuclear facilities may not be feasible. This approach allows construction and site preparation to occur in parallel, reducing overall time to operation. It also enables manufacturing, operation, refueling, and decommissioning to occur in different locations, if needed.

What’s being built. To date, FNPPs are largely still in the development stage. Only one FNPP is operating—the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP in Pevek, Russia, which has proven the concept by delivering nearly 1 TWh of power and domestic heat under Arctic conditions. Its successors will employ upgraded RITM-200S reactors and support new copper and rare earth metal mining projects in Russia’s Far East.

In the United States, Core Power is under discussion with the U.S. Department of War to construct and deploy its FNPPs. Other developers, such as Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Saltfoss Energy, and Samsung Heavy Industries are exploring commercial applications of FNPPs.

Use cases. Because FNPPs offer the high-density power of a nuclear reactor in mobile form, they can support a range of applications:

• Remote Coastal Grid Support: Powering remote islands, archipelagos, and isolated coastal regions without the need for large-scale land-based infrastructure.
• Industrial Heat and Desalination: Supplying steam or high-grade heat for industrial parks, mining operations, and freshwater production in water-stressed regions.
• Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure: Providing reliable, emissions-free power near undersea cable landing sites and high-density digital infrastructure.
• Disaster Recovery and Humanitarian Aid: Deploying to coastal regions affected by earthquakes, tsunamis, or grid collapse to rapidly restore essential services.
• Military and Dual-Use Installations: Supporting forward-deployed bases or port facilities requiring long-term, autonomous power generation.

Advantages compared to traditional nuclear. FNPPs offer many of the same advantages as SMRs, with additional benefits stemming from their offshore deployment:

• Accelerated Deployment: Modular construction in a shipyard may reduce construction risk and improve schedule certainty.
• Scalability: Factory fabrication and modularization could enable standardized, repeatable deployment.
• Reduced Site Preparation: Offshore siting can avoid many of the geological, seismic, and infrastructure constraints associated with land-based reactors.
• Environmental and Weather Resilience: FNPPs can be designed to withstand extreme conditions, including tsunamis and severe weather events.
• Relocatability: Unlike fixed plants, FNPPs can be repositioned over time, allowing capital to be redeployed as demand shifts or projects evolve.
• Centralized Maintenance: Refueling and decommissioning could occur at dedicated shipyard or hub facilities.

These advantages are most compelling in markets where the cost of delivered fuel is high—such as remote regions or offshore operations—making FNPPs potentially competitive with diesel or LNG-based generation. Interest has emerged from island nations, remote mining regions, and energy-intensive users such as data center developers.

For countries without established nuclear programs, FNPPs may offer a more accessible entry point. A fully fabricated, fuel-loaded reactor could be imported and connected to the local grid without requiring domestic enrichment or fuel fabrication capabilities. However, this model raises important questions around ownership, operation, regulatory oversight, and long-term liability—particularly across jurisdictions.

Nuclear-propelled ships: The legacy and future of maritime propulsion

Nuclear power at sea is not a novel concept—it has been in use for over seven decades, roughly as long as commercial nuclear power. It’s also not rare—since the launch of the USS Nautilus in 1955, more than 160 vessels have been powered by over 200 small nuclear reactors. The U.S. Navy alone has accumulated over 6,200 reactor-years without a single radiological incident, a safety record attributed to rigorous training, standardization, and maintenance.

What’s new is the scale and focus of civil applications under development. Most nuclear power at sea has been military vessels operated by the U.S., Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and India. The core advantages of nuclear propulsion—long endurance, energy density, and fuel independence—are now driving renewed commercial interest.

What’s being built. Russia is a powerhouse in nuclear-propelled ships, operating a robust fleet of nuclear icebreakers and the Sevmorput cargo vessel to enable year-round Arctic logistics. Norway is looking for similar Arctic gains; the Norwegian Maritime Authority (Norway) recently completed a feasibility study for nuclear-powered cruise liners and cargo ships navigating the Norwegian coast and polar routes.

Other countries, companies, and consortia around the world are exploring applications as diverse as their locations. Core Power (UK/U.S.) is working with shipyards and reactor developers on advanced propulsion systems and floating energy hubs; Samsung Heavy Industries (Korea) is evaluating the integration of molten salt reactors into large commercial vessels and offshore assets; HD Hyundai (Korea) is partnering with the American Bureau of Shipping (U.S.) to develop nuclear-propelled container ships; and Australia is exploring hybrid concepts that pair microreactors with conventional diesel generators.

These initiatives signal a shift from theoretical exploration toward early-stage deployment. However, their commercial viability will depend on resolving key challenges around regulatory approval, port access, insurance, and public acceptance—issues that have historically limited the adoption of civilian nuclear-powered vessels.

Advantages compared to traditional shipping. Merchant nuclear ships offer potentially transformative advantages for the decarbonization and modernization of maritime logistics:

• Extended Endurance: Unlike fossil-fueled ships that must refuel every few weeks, nuclear vessels can operate for years between refueling intervals, enabling direct global trade routes, fewer port calls, and greater operational flexibility.
• Energy Security and Price Stability: Nuclear energy is less exposed to the volatility of global fossil fuel markets, allowing ship operators to hedge against spikes in oil and gas prices.
• Zero-Emission Transport: Nuclear propulsion eliminates greenhouse gas emissions, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides associated with conventional bunker fuels, positioning nuclear-powered vessels as a potential pathway toward meeting the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2050 climate targets.
• Strategic Access: For routes through the Arctic or geopolitically sensitive chokepoints, nuclear propulsion can enhance mobility and resilience under extreme or unstable conditions.
• Dual-Use Opportunity: In addition to propulsion, excess thermal or electrical energy could be repurposed for cargo refrigeration, hydrogen electrolysis, or onboard CO₂ capture and conversion.

Together, these benefits create potential commercial incentives for early adopters, especially in high-value shipping sectors where endurance, speed, and carbon intensity are increasingly scrutinized—provided regulatory, insurance, and port access barriers can be addressed.

Use cases. By combining mobile power generation with decarbonized propulsion, maritime nuclear technologies offer a dual advantage—and the potential to transform elements of the global logistics system.

• Long-Range Cargo Transport: Decarbonizing long-haul trade through nuclear-powered tankers, container ships, and bulk carriers operating on intercontinental routes, where extended endurance can reduce refueling stops, shorten transit times, and enable more direct routing.
• Passenger Shipping: Enabling transoceanic cruise liners with low- or zero-emissions propulsion and minimal refueling requirements, supporting compliance with increasingly stringent emissions regulations while preserving range and onboard energy availability.
• Offshore Energy Production and Industrial Applications: Supporting offshore oil and gas operations, hydrogen production, and other energy-intensive processes on mobile or fixed platforms, where nuclear energy can provide continuous, high-capacity power independent of fuel logistics or weather variability.
• Polar and Arctic Logistics: Supporting year-round access and commercial operations in ice-prone waters using ice-classed nuclear ships, particularly along emerging Arctic trade routes where fuel logistics are challenging and conditions are extreme.
• Maritime Emergency Response: Deploying floating hospitals, command centers, or recovery logistics to disaster zones without requiring land access or fuel logistics, enabling rapid, sustained response in disrupted environments.

These use cases illustrate how the mobility, reliability, and energy density of maritime nuclear power can support climate, security, and economic development objectives.

Regulatory and institutional challenges

FNPPs and nuclear-propelled ships fall into a regulatory gap—no single framework was designed to govern technologies that combine civil nuclear systems with maritime operations. As a result, they sit at the intersection of civil nuclear and maritime law, two of the most heavily regulated sectors globally. Effective international deployment will require coordination and alignment across multiple legal and regulatory regimes. The World Nuclear Association’s Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) Working Group identified many of these challenges in a June 2025 report on FNPPs.

• General Licensing Framework: FNPPs and nuclear-propelled ships must meet both nuclear and maritime licensing regimes. Avoiding duplicative or conflicting reviews across jurisdictions will be critical for cross-border deployment. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) "ATLAS" (Atomic Technology Licensed for Application at Sea) initiative and the NGO "NEMO" (Nuclear Energy Maritime Organization) signal momentum in aligning standards and stakeholders.
• Nuclear Safety: The IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety applies to land-based nuclear reactors but does not explicitly cover marine deployments. Applying its safety principles to floating nuclear power plants and nuclear-propelled ships will require adaptation for marine conditions (e.g., hull integrity, accident response at sea). Jurisdictional boundaries between domestic nuclear regulators—and between nuclear and maritime authorities—will also need to be clarified.
• Maritime Safety: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), two foundational international treaties governing the legal and safety frameworks for activities at sea, provide a maritime legal foundation. SOLAS Chapter VIII currently applies only to self-propelled ships and has seen limited practical use. The IMO is actively revising the Code of Safety to accommodate FNPPs.
• Classification Societies: Entities like the American Bureau of Shipping, Lloyd’s Register, and Bureau Veritas will certify vessels. The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), the global umbrella organization of major ship classification societies to which these other organizations belong, must finalize unified class rules for nuclear applications. The new Maritime Nuclear Consortium, with industry leaders from nuclear, maritime, insurance, and regulatory sectors, seeks to further develop guidance for nuclear maritime regulation.
• Safeguards and Security: IAEA safeguards must cover all life-cycle phases (fabrication, transit, deployment). The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM), an international treaty focused on the physical protection of nuclear material and facilities, and the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Series—particularly NSS-13 (INFCIRC/225/Revision 5), which provides detailed recommendations on physical protection of nuclear material and facilities—provide the baseline for physical protection.
• Liability and Insurance: FNPPs and nuclear-propelled ships raise complex liability issues, as they straddle both nuclear and maritime legal regimes. International nuclear conventions, such as the Paris and Vienna Conventions and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, likely apply to FNPPs and could extend to nuclear-propelled ships, but they were not designed to account for maritime-specific risks such as collisions, transboundary operations, or port calls. Resolving liability, insurance coverage, and jurisdictional authority will require coordinated action across multiple stakeholders. More broadly, these frameworks were developed for stationary, land-based facilities and will require adaptation to address mobile, transboundary nuclear assets.

Looking forward

With momentum building and new actors entering the market, maritime nuclear power is re-emerging as a credible pathway for delivering clean, reliable energy and propulsion beyond the constraints of fixed infrastructure. Its potential is global in scope—but so are the challenges.

Realizing this potential will depend on more than technology. It will require coordinated progress across regulatory frameworks, liability regimes, financing structures, and public acceptance—areas that have historically limited deployment.

If these barriers can be addressed, FNPPs and nuclear-propelled ships could fundamentally reshape how energy is produced, delivered, and used—extending the reach of nuclear power into sectors and geographies where it has not traditionally been viable.