Overview
- In July, the Port of Long Beach and the U.S. Maritime Administration signed a cooperation agreement to help write safety standards and regulatory readiness for maritime small modular reactors.
- Startup Bluecore Energy has leased Berth 48, placed a light-water reactor module on a 185-foot barge for assembly and testing, and said it raised about $10 million in a pre-seed round though its power and funding claims remain company statements.
- Bluecore has met with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to introduce its design but has not filed a formal NRC application for deployment.
- Regulators have flagged maritime-specific hazards such as sinking, capsizing and severe weather and federal agencies including the NRC, U.S. Coast Guard, MARAD and DOE are coordinating inspection and operational protocols to address those risks.
- California’s 1976 moratorium on new nuclear fission construction creates an unresolved legal question tied to high-level waste rules that must be resolved before a floating SMR project could move from testing to commercial service.