A promising reactor design is only one part of a deployable power station. The wider task is the route to market: financing, licensing, manufacturing and delivering that design where demand is growing.
Utilities, large industrial users, hyperscalers and defense installations all need more firm power. In many markets, the constraint is not only generation technology. It is the time, land, grid capacity and delivery model needed to bring new infrastructure online.
That is why the feasibility study announced in June matters. It is assessing the technical, regulatory and commercial pathways for integrating BWXT’s mPower™ small modular reactor (SMR) technology into floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) built in shipyards and deployed where the power is needed. The FNPP concept being assessed would have an electrical generating capacity of up to 350 MWe, subject to the feasibility study and further design development.
From reactor design to complete product
mPower was developed as a Generation III+ integral pressurized water SMR, drawing on established light-water reactor technology. BWXT brings that reactor design experience while CORE POWER brings marine systems integration, shipyard delivery and commercial deployment architecture. Together we are assessing whether the technology can support a complete FNPP product.
The study covers systems engineering, concept of operations development, product requirements, regulatory pathways, marine integration and techno-economic analysis. The aim is to establish whether mPower can be integrated into a repeatable FNPP product, and what further engineering, regulatory and commercial work that would require.
Changing the megaproject delivery model
Nuclear power has usually been delivered as bespoke, site-built megaprojects. Our aim at CORE POWER is to reduce the risks that come with one-off construction by moving more of the delivery process into controlled industrial environments and applying modern shipbuilding principles.
The FNPP model combines commercial shipyard construction of the hull and marine systems with specialist nuclear integration and commissioning at appropriately licensed facilities. Product construction and deployment-site preparation can proceed in parallel rather than in sequence. This could improve repeatability and schedule confidence while reducing exposure to local labor, land and civil-construction constraints.
FNPPs will still require rigorous licensing, port and site approvals, grid connections, security arrangements and community engagement. A more repeatable delivery model has to accommodate all of these.Meeting demand for firm power
Many customers are increasingly constrained by grid capacity, land or other infrastructure. Ports and coastal industrial clusters are among the locations where an FNPP could serve them.
Utilities
Utilities need new firm capacity while managing aging assets, congested grids and slow transmission programs. FNPPs could offer a modular pathway to add capacity to coastal, island or grid-constrained systems, alongside investment in land-based generation, renewables, storage and networks.
Large Industrial Users
Manufacturers, processors and other large industrial users need dependable electricity to expand output, electrify operations and remain competitive. Where the site and the commercial case support it, an FNPP could sit close to the load.
Hyperscalers
AI and cloud infrastructure are driving growing demand for continuous power, often in locations where the grid cannot expand quickly enough. A scalable source of firm generation near suitable coastal or waterside sites could meet part of that demand.
Defense
Defense installations and strategic infrastructure need resilient power, particularly where transmission or fuel logistics are constrained. An FNPP could place firm generation closer to demand and diversify energy supply.
Building the market for FNPPs
The question is how to create a repeatable route from reactor technology to a product that can be licensed, financed, insured and operated to meet customers’ needs.
CORE POWER is technology-selective: we assess different reactor technologies against the requirements of complete products and their route to market. The mPower study applies that approach to a potential FNPP product, examining how reactor technology, marine engineering, regulation and commercial requirements fit together.
Demand for firm power is growing now. This study will inform decisions on the engineering scope, regulatory engagement and commercial structures needed to advance a viable FNPP product. Its value lies in defining the next practical steps from reactor technology to deployable power.
