Environment

Floating nuclear reactors OKed for Outer Continental Shelf

July 23, 2026July 23, 2026

By David Pendered

July 23 – Floating nuclear reactors funded by investors could be allowed in United States’ waters up to 200 miles offshore of US states and territories, under a provision announced Wednesday by the Trump administration.

A market for such energy seems to exist. On Tuesday, a start-up company announced it has placed a barge with a nuclear reactor in the Port of Long Beach, Ca. The project is to produce electricity that would power about 15,000 houses, though the end users of this power are commercial users, not residential customers.

Floating nuclear reactors could be installed on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf under an MOU announced Wednesday by the Trump administration. (Credit: US BOEM)

The company, Bluecore Energy, said in a statement it has secured $10 million in “an oversubscribed financing round” to support the development of the technology. The list of angel investors includes former leaders at Tesla, Uber, Amazon and Google, according to the statement.

Pertinent comments from the statement include:

“My team and I took nuclear reactor technology that’s been running power plants safely for seventy years, made itsmaller, and put it on a barge. A power plant that floats,” said Kofi Asante, founder and CEO of Bluecore Energy.
“We are excited to welcome Bluecore Energy to the Port of Long Beach and its commitment to developing zero-emissions energy SMR solutions [small modular reactors] alongside the maritime community,” said Noel Hacegaba, CEO of the Port of Long Beach.

The Trump administration announced its intent to foster the establishment of power sources on the Outer Continental Shelf as part of its implementation of Executive Orders that aimed to accelerate “US deployment of nuclear technologies for national security, industrial competitiveness and energy resilience.” The shelf generally extends 200 miles from the US coastline, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and US territories.

To advance such projects, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Marine Minerals Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The MOU states the MMA will issues leases, easements or rights-of-way for nuclear projects on the Outer Continental Shelf. The NRC will issue licenses and permits for the construction, operation and decommissioning of facilities.