Mikal Bøe, chief executive officer of Core Power, announced the launch of the program during a keynote presentation at Core Power’s summit in Houston, Texas, on February 12. “The Liberty program will unlock a floating power market worth $2.6 trillion, and shipyard construction of nuclear will deliver on time and on budget,” Bøe said. “Given that 65 percent of economic activity takes place on the coast, this will allow nuclear to reach new markets.”
Core Power announced in January that it was working with naval architecture company Glosten on a design for a FNPP that could generate up to 175 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually and provide power to ships, equipment, and port vehicles. Core Power was formed in 2018 and has offices in London, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo.
The details: According to Core Power, the first part of the Liberty program will see the mass production of FNPPs. The expertise gained in rolling out FNPPs on a large scale will pave the way for the second part of the program, which involves developing nuclear propulsion for civil ships using advanced nuclear technologies, such as molten salt reactors.
FNPPs will be produced in shipyards on a modular production line, making use of established shipbuilding processes and leveraging an already-skilled workforce. They will be manufactured as power barges that can be moored at ports and coastal locations, as well as larger-capacity generation units anchored further offshore.
A fleet of FNPPs can be mass produced and towed to customer locations without complex site preparations, while a central yard carries out commissioning, maintenance, refueling, and waste management, according to the company.
Building the market: Core Power said it envisions opening the order book for FNPPs in 2028 and reaching full commercialization by the middle of the next decade. In laying out the first phase of the company’s road map to 2030, Bøe said that in addition to design the company would focus on creating the necessary framework for licensing, insurance, and export control.
The second phase will focus on developing the supply chain and workforce. The third phase will see the development of business operations models and creating the manufacturing base. At the same time, Core Power said it will aid the development of international safety and security standards by working together with the International Maritime Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency to create a civil liability convention for nuclear-powered ships.
The program will also encompass creating the regulatory framework necessary to operate FNPPs and (later) civil vessels with nuclear propulsion. It will also include the supply chains, such as fuel and trained personnel, that will enable advanced nuclear reactors to function.
U.S. made: Core Power said the program takes its name and its inspiration from the Liberty ships of World War II, which were mass produced in the United States quickly and at scale and enabled the Allies to win the war. It also emphasizes the U.S.-anchored nature of the program, which will leverage the country’s nuclear regulatory frameworks to make worldwide operation of FNPPs and nuclear-powered ships a reality. Finally, it reflects the fact that the company will choose a location in the U.S. to build the initial manufacturing yard for FNPPs.
