NEUP project to look at offshore nuclear power plants
Core Power, MIT Energy Initiative, and Idaho National Laboratory have secured research funding from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) to conduct a three-year study into the development of offshore floating nuclear power generation. This collaborative research effort is among the 74 nuclear research and infrastructure projects that were awarded more than $61 million by the DOE in June.
Maritime market: The three-year study will explore the potential economic and environmental benefits of maritime advanced nuclear power generation, including all aspects of building, operating, maintaining, and decommissioning. A primary goal of this project is to achieve progress in bringing new nuclear technologies to the maritime market.
Boe
Hydrogen hub: A major focus of the study will be evaluating how a nuclear-powered hydrogen hub off the U.S. coast could “set the scene and demonstrate how we make hydrogen production safe, cheap, and reliable by placing the production unit offshore,” according to Mikal Boe, chief executive officer of Core Power. The development of such regional clean energy hubs is a provision of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Joe Biden in November 2021. The DOE is requiring that one of these hubs be powered by nuclear energy. The study will be especially important to the future decarbonization of the shipping industry.
In case you missed it: ANS's Nuclear Newswire ran “Floating Nuclear Power Plants,” a feature story from the July issue of Nuclear News that discusses the background, current concepts and innovations, and possibilities for the future of offshore floating plants.
