The United States government has announced the creation of a “clear regulatory framework” for the construction of floating nuclear power plants on federal waters.
THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN AMERICAN AGENCIES
Yesterday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency that oversees activities on the United States outer continental shelf, signed a collaboration agreement on the matter with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Currently, no commercial projects are planned, but the Bureau director stated that “submerged reactor systems have been safely used in naval applications for decades and have demonstrated their potential as a reliable energy source in complex marine environments.” He added that the so-called floating nuclear power plants could “significantly strengthen the United States’ energy security in the future.”
OFFSHORE NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES
Nuclear technologies have long been used in maritime environments to power warships, submarines, and some icebreakers. In recent years, there has been consideration of introducing nuclear propulsion on commercial cargo ships because it would solve both the problem of greenhouse gas emissions (maritime transport depends on fossil fuels, and “clean” fuels like ammonia and methanol are still expensive and not widespread) and that of autonomy, since a nuclear fuel refueling lasts for years.
As for floating nuclear power plants, there is currently only one: the Akademik Lomonosov (in the photo), located in the far east of Russia. The International Atomic Energy Agency reminds, however, that besides the United States, China, Canada, South Korea, and Denmark are also working on designing small marine modular reactors.
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ENERGY PLANS (AND BEYOND)
The promotion of floating nuclear power plants at sea is linked to President Donald Trump’s goal of quadrupling the United States’ nuclear energy capacity – already the country with the most reactors worldwide – by 2050, increasing it from nearly 100 gigawatts to 400 GW. More generally, the White House wants to expand national energy generation to meet the growing demand for electricity, which is itself linked to data centers for artificial intelligence and the electrification of industrial consumption.
Furthermore, the Trump administration intends to open federal waters to economic activities: beyond hydrocarbon exploration, it has recently proposed leasing a maritime area off American Samoa for mineral exploitation and using the outer continental shelf for space launches. It has instead hindered offshore wind projects officially for national security reasons, arguing that turbines interfere with air defense radar systems; the president has often criticized wind farms for their landscape impact.
