Maritime nuclear specialist CORE POWER has launched a formal feasibility study in partnership with US nuclear technology company BWX Technologies (BWXT) to examine whether shipyards could mass-produce floating nuclear power plants for deployment at coastal locations — a development that could have far-reaching implications for the future energy landscape serving global shipping and port infrastructure.
The Study and Its Scope
The feasibility study will assess the technical, regulatory, and commercial pathways required to integrate BWXT’s mPower small modular reactor (SMR) technology into floating power plant units constructed within conventional shipyard environments. This represents a significant convergence of naval architecture and nuclear engineering disciplines, bringing together two industries that have historically operated in largely separate regulatory and commercial spheres.
The core proposition being examined is whether the shipbuilding industry’s established mass-production capabilities — already used to construct complex vessels such as LNG carriers and sophisticated offshore units — could be adapted to manufacture nuclear power plants at scale and with the cost efficiencies that serial production typically delivers. SMR technology, by its nature, is designed to be modular and factory-built, making the shipyard environment a logical candidate for this type of production model.
For bulk carrier operators and the wider maritime sector, this study carries relevance beyond its immediate subject matter. The availability of floating nuclear power infrastructure at coastal and port locations could fundamentally alter the energy supply equation for ship operations, bunkering alternatives, and port electrification — all areas of growing strategic importance as the industry navigates decarbonisation pressures.
Why Shipyards and Why Now
The rationale for involving shipyards in nuclear plant construction is grounded in practical industrial logic. Shipyards possess the heavy fabrication capabilities, the quality management systems, and the project management frameworks required to build highly complex, safety-critical structures to exacting international standards. These are precisely the attributes needed for nuclear plant construction, an activity that has historically suffered from cost overruns and schedule delays when built using traditional onshore civil construction methods.
Serial production in a controlled shipyard environment could, in theory, introduce the kind of repeatability and standardisation that drives down unit costs over time — a model already proven effective in offshore platform construction and, more recently, in the fabrication of offshore wind foundations. BWXT’s mPower SMR technology has been developed with this modular, factory-build philosophy in mind, making it a candidate well-suited to the shipyard production model being studied.
The regulatory dimension is equally significant and forms a core element of the feasibility work. Floating nuclear installations occupy a unique intersection between maritime regulation and nuclear licensing frameworks, requiring engagement with both IMO regulations governing vessel safety and the national nuclear regulatory authorities of deployment territories. Navigating this dual regulatory environment is widely regarded as one of the principal challenges facing the commercialisation of marine and floating nuclear power.
Implications for the Bulk Carrier Sector
While bulk carriers are not the immediate target application for floating nuclear power plants, the broader implications for the sector should not be overlooked. Port and terminal electrification powered by coastal floating nuclear units could provide stable, low-carbon energy for shore power connections — an area of increasing regulatory focus as environment and emissions requirements tighten in major port states. Similarly, the potential production of green hydrogen or ammonia using nuclear-generated electricity at coastal facilities could create new zero-carbon fuel supply chains relevant to bulk carrier operators planning their long-term fleet decarbonisation strategies.
The commercial pathway assessment included in the CORE POWER and BWXT study will be critical in determining whether floating nuclear plants can achieve cost competitiveness against alternative low-carbon energy sources. For shipyard operators themselves, securing a role in nuclear plant fabrication would represent a significant diversification opportunity at a time when newbuilding demand cycles create periods of underutilisation in yard capacity.
It is worth noting that this remains a feasibility study — the examination of pathways rather than the confirmation of a commercial programme. The outcomes will need to satisfy technical validation, demonstrate a credible regulatory route to deployment, and present a commercially viable business case before any construction programme could advance. The timeline for such studies typically spans multiple years before reaching actionable conclusions.
What Operators Should Watch
For bulk carrier operators and maritime professionals, the CORE POWER and BWXT initiative is a marker of the growing seriousness with which nuclear technology is being considered as part of the maritime energy transition toolkit. Progress in floating nuclear deployment, however incremental, will shape the long-term infrastructure environment within which bulk shipping operates. Operators engaged in strategic fleet planning and fuel transition roadmaps would be well served by monitoring regulatory developments in this space as they emerge from both the IMO and national licensing bodies in key maritime nations.