Coming soon(ish) to a port near you: Floating nuclear plants

By Francisco "A.J." Camacho | 01/30/2025 06:49 AM EST

A British startup envisions small reactors that can travel to sites where and when they are needed.

Core Power & Glosten's barge-based infrastructure design will plug into the grid to provide nuclear energy.

Core Power and Glosten's barge-based infrastructure design will plug into the grid to provide nuclear energy. Glosten

British maritime nuclear startup Core Power announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Seattle-based naval architecture firm Glosten to design a floating nuclear power plant to support southern U.S. ports by the early 2030s.

The announcement comes as nuclear power is increasingly being considered to address electricity demand that is expected to skyrocket thanks to power-hungry artificial intelligence. Operators are projecting an 8.2 percent increase in electricity demand over the next five years, comparable to adding the power consumption of nearly 50 million homes to the grid by 2029. Many see nuclear as an optimal boost due to its unmatched reliability and low emissions.

Nuclear boosters point to its reliability and low emissions. Core Power wants to up the game by making a nuclear reactor that can go wherever you need it.

Advertisement

In 2022, Core Power, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Idaho National Laboratory were awarded funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law to study how the concept could be developed in the U.S. They’re not alone: Nuclear powerhouse Westinghouse is also aiming to power and heat remote outposts by floating their planned microreactor design.

GET FULL ACCESS