Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has said that that it has received Approval in Principle from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for a conceptual design of the compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) Power Barge, a floating offshore nuclear power plant.
CMSR Power Barge is a new concept power generation facility that supplies electricity and thermal energy produced by using CMSR technology. CMSR Power Barge is a fusion of nuclear power and shipbuilding technology and it has less constraints for site selection and facility condition. It takes only about two years to build and costs less.
The CMSR Power Barge, developed by SHI, can be equipped with two to eight 100MW CMSRs in accordance with demand for power production. It is a “nuclear power plant on the sea” with steam turbine generators and transmission/distribution facilities in the floating body.
SHI signed a business agreement with CMSR developer Seaborg in January last year to develop floating nuclear power plant products. SHI plans to commercialise it by 2028 after completing detailed design of all power generation facilities.
Seaborg is doing business activities for developing countries that lack constant electricity.
SHI expects the CMSR Power Barge to expand demand not only as an alternative demand for existing fossil fuel power generation facilities, but also as an electricity and thermal energy source for industrial heating systems, hydrogen production, and seawater desalination facilities.
“We will continuously develop technologies for floating nuclear power plants, which will lead a new market”, said Yeo Dong-il, head of marine design at SHI.