Floating Nuclear Power Consortium Takes Shape

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technologies have announced a consortium to develop floating nuclear power plants with Seaborg Technologies' molten salt reactor technology. The power plants will be installed on barges with a modular design able to deliver from 200MWe to 800MWe, with the consortium's first project expected to be a 200MWe power barge.

The consortium aims to enable timely commercialization and a scalable export of factory-produced CMSR-based floating nuclear power plants worldwide, offering improved efficiency and inherent safety characteristics. 

KHNP's active effort will be aimed at fostering a mutually beneficial partnership between Korea and Denmark, with a focus on cooperation in the next generation nuclear power project, for a safer and cleaner future." said Jooho Whang, CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

"Floating Nuclear Power Plant is a carbon-free energy solution which is efficiently responding the climate change issues and a next-generation technology expandable to floating Hydrogen, Ammonia plant the meets the vision of Samsung Heavy Industries." added Jintaek Jeong, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries.

"This consortium is unique for deploying nuclear power at scale," said Navid Samandari, CEO of Seaborg Technologies. "We are proud to say we have partnered with the best for construction and operations as part of our shared mission to develop and deploy the power barges."

The agreement marks a significant milestone for floating nuclear solutions, where each 200MWe of generation capacity is expected to save over 26 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over its 24-year lifetime compared with a coal-fired power plant.

Image courtesy Samsung Heavy Industries