VESSEL REVIEW | US startup introduces floating nuclear reactor barge for on-demand power generation in ports

US startup Bluecore Energy has launched operations after delivering its first barge and electric test reactor to its headquarters at the Port of Long Beach in California.

The company has been developing small modular, water-cooled nuclear reactors designed to operate aboard floating barges to supply power directly to ports, infrastructure, and cargo ships.

The 185-foot (56.4-metre) barge carries a full-scale test reactor pressure vessel on deck at berth 48 at the Port of Long Beach.

Its initial 10MWe system is designed to generate electricity for approximately 15,000 homes or scale to meet the operational demands of a major port facility. Designed to operate for years on a single fuelling cycle, multiple reactors can be paired together to provide power for utilities, data centres, and offshore facilities.

Enhanced safety for daily port operations

Bluecore noted that its design utilises nuclear reactor principles established over the past 70 years, adapting the technology into a compact floating layout. The reactor has been engineered around defence-in-depth principles, with multiple layers of protection designed into the reactor architecture.

The current design approach includes multiple physical barriers between the nuclear fuel and the environment, diverse shutdown systems, passive safety features, and water-based cooling.

“The work there is non-fueled, and it is not a power source for the port,” Kofi Asante, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bluecore, told Baird Maritime. “The reactor itself is only a few feet wide. The barge stays at the berth.”

Asante said that the daily work is research and development, and the reactor is not live in the port.

First phase of a planned large-scale portable power distribution scheme

With ports having large, constant electrical loads, the company proposes that one 10MWe reactor could continuously supply about enough electricity for one large container vessel at berth, or several of the port’s large dockside cranes. The first system has been designed to produce approximately 10 MWe of continuous electricity, running for years at a time and refuelling only once every few years.

“The test reactor pressure vessel is what is on deck,” Asante remarked. “Our development work is focused on developing and validating our monitoring, sensor, and control systems.”

The company’s eventual goal is to address users’ needs for new energy generation infrastructure. Currently, construction of traditional infrastructure such as fixed power plants can take several years. Rather than waiting years for new power infrastructure to reach the point of demand, Bluecore has been developing systems designed to bring power sources directly to where these are needed in a matter of days.

Asante explained that the only major difficulty so far encountered over the course of the project was related to ensuring compliance with safety regulations.

“Safety and licensing are the gating factors, and we have started a coordinated process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the US Coast Guard,” he told Baird Maritime.