Core Power said it will work on the project with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Initiative and the Idaho National Laboratory.
The company wants to produce advanced small reactors on floating power stations that can provide local power to small grids and is also looking to develop a molten salt reactor for ship propulsion or manufacturing of blue and green hydrogen fuels.
Core Power said it is pioneering the work of developing the market for marine-appropriate new nuclear technology. It aims to build advanced reactors as a fully manufactured product, rather than as construction projects. This would allow it to use shipyard manufacturing techniques and make reactors affordable.
Funding released under the DOE’s nuclear energy university programme (NEUP) is expected to allow research into the economic and environmental benefits of floating advanced nuclear power generation and examine all aspects of building, operating, maintaining, and decommissioning such facilities, Core Power said.
The NEUP project will look at how a nuclear-powered regional clean hydrogen hub off the coast of the US could demonstrate how to make hydrogen production, safe, cheap and reliable by placing the production unit offshore, said Mikal Boe, chief executive of Core Power.
According to Core Power, the NEUP funding is part of a larger $8bn (€8.07bn) hydrogen hub programme aimed at driving down the cost of advanced hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilisation across multiple sectors in the economy. Hydrogen research is in the scope of the $1.2tn Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by the US Congress in 2021.
