Seaborg, Samsung to develop floating nuclear power plant

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg on April 7 signed a partnership agreement to develop floating nuclear power plants based on Seaborg’s inherently safe Compact Molten Salt Reactor (CMSR). The agreement includes development of hydrogen production plants and ammonia plants, as the CMSR is an ideal power source for supply of stable, clean, and safe electricity.

​Jintaek Jeong, president of Samsung Heavy Industries, says: “CMSR is a carbon-free energy source that can efficiently respond to climate change issues and is a next-generation technology that meets the vision of Samsung Heavy Industries. 

“In addition, when an abnormal signal occurs inside the reactor, the liquid nuclear fuel, molten salt, is solidified to prevent serious accidents at the source, and provides high safety and high efficiency power and hydrogen production at the same time.

“Through this agreement, we plan to pioneer the CMSR-based floating nuclear power plant market as part of strengthening its future new business opportunity.” 

​​The aim of the strategic partnership is to manufacture and sell turn-key power plants, ready to be moored at industrial harbors and connected to the electric grid onshore.

​The stable production of energy also offers a fundamental basis for production of all Power-2-X fuels, where especially hydrogen and ammonia are considered a future energy source to replace traditional fossil fuels. The design of the hydrogen, ammonia and power units will be optimized for efficient serial construction at SHI’s shipyards.

About the CMSR-based floating nuclear power plant

The floating nuclear power plant comes as a turn-key product, ready to be moored at an industrial harbor. In the harbor, a transmission cable will be connected to the electric grid onshore. An optional solution is to place a hydrogen or ammonia production plant next to the floating nuclear power plant utilizing the CO2-free fission energy to produce hydrogen and ammonia.

​The floating nuclear power plant design is modular delivering up to 800 MW-electric for the 24-year lifetime and cost competitive whether it plugs into the grid in an existing coal port or power production of hydrogen and ammonia.

​When an abnormal signal occurs inside the reactor, it is designed to solidify molten salt, a liquid nuclear fuel, to prevent serious accidents at the source, providing high safety and high-efficiency power and hydrogen production at the same time.

Photo credit: Seaborg

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