Tripartite initiative to explore nuclear power for strategic maritime applications

The UK’s classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) has joined forces with Queensland-headquartered ship design group Seatransport and Houston-based engineering company Deployable Energy to develop nuclear power generation for a wide array of applications in the maritime industry.

As disclosed, the three partners are set to first explore the use of this technology in strategic response vessels that operate in remote areas.

To be specific, according to Lloyd’s Register, using micro modular reactor (MMR) technology, two to five MMRs of 1MWe capacity each are set to power a 73-meter amphibious vessel intended for emergency response and disaster relief duties.

Owing to its technology, the partners expect the ship to run for eight to ten years without refueling. Representatives from LR have also noted that the unit will be able to feed power into the shore grid of affected areas and whenever docked at port.

Sharing further insight into this development, Claudene Sharp-Patel, Lloyd’s Register’s Global Technical Director, spotlighted that nuclear technology possessed ‘tremendous’ potential, citing it as a “safe, insurable and scalable” solution for shipping.

In fact, in its July 2024 Fuel for Thought report, LR underscored that, with advancements in reactor designs pressing on, the prospect of nuclear power in maritime transportation could entail vessels sailing for years—even decades—without refueling, thus drastically cutting the global supply chain’s environmental footprint.

Moreover, in October last year, a study published by Amsterdam-based nuclear development and consulting company ULC-Energy, in collaboration with ship design and engineering firm C-Job Naval Architects, confirmed that in the segment of bulk carriers, in particular, a nuclear-powered unit had the potential to sail ‘longer, faster, and cheaper’ without producing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

This was in comparison to a ship running on a conventional, very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) or one powered by a clean energy source such as ammonia.

At the end of February 2025, Lloyd’s Register unpacked a report done together with compatriot technology company CORE POWER and marine insurance provider NorthStandard, which laid out a policy framework for the UK government to support the use of advanced small nuclear reactors on commercial ships and floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs).

In the report, the parties called for the Department for Transport to include nuclear-powered shipping and FNPPs in an updated Clean Maritime Plan (CMP) as well as in the UK’s long-term nuclear strategy, especially in the wake of the country’s pledge at COP 28 to triple its capacity to generate this alternative energy source.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, the US-based classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) teamed up in July 2024 to work on advancing commercial SMR-powered ships and floating SMR power generation platforms.

According to Keyyong Hong, President of KRISO, one of the main goals of this endeavor was to establish global standards for the commercialization of small modular reactors in the marine sector.

On the other hand, in mid-February 2025, CORE POWER launched a US-anchored maritime civil nuclear program dubbed Liberty, envisioned to bring floating nuclear power to market by the mid-2030s.

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