Page 52: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2026)

GREEN MARINE tors , and microreactors . factories with higher productivity levels and improved quality

SMRs o? er several advantages over traditional large-scale control compared to traditional on-site construction methods. nuclear power plants. Standardized designs facilitate cost re- Modularity also allows for incremental power additions ductions through replication and accumulated operational ex- based on demand. For o? shore power markets, this ? exibility perience, extending bene? ts beyond reactor design to include is commercially relevant – customers may not need a single associated delivery processes. Modular construction methods large baseload plant, but rather a scalable, modular source of enable the pre-fabrication of reactor components o? -site in ? rm low-carbon power that can be matched to the needs of an island grid, industrial cluster, remote mine, port, desalination

Figure 3 facility, or o? shore energy hub.

Refueling cycles are also an important part of the value proposition. Depending on the design, ? oating SMRs may re- quire refueling only every three to seven years, with some ad- vanced concepts being devel- oped with fuel cycles extending up to 30 years. For countries that currently rely on regular fossil fuel imports, this o? ers a pathway toward greater energy independence and lower expo- sure to fuel price volatility.

Importantly, smaller core inventories reduce radiation exposure risks both on-site for workers and o? -site by limiting potential accident consequences and emergency planning zone requirements.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency. 2022. IAEA SMR ARIS Booklet 2022

Identifying Priority

Figure 4

Markets f

The analysis began with a dataset covering 252 countries and territories and then focused on 128 markets identi? ed through preliminary screening as having potential for ? oating nuclear deployment. Based on aggregate political and eco- nomic framework scores, 75 countries and territories merit further study (Figure 4).

This result represents a bal- anced investability screen rather than a simple technical- opportunity map. Several mar- kets may show strong demand for ? oating power but fall be-

Source: author’s analysis. Countries and territories in the upper-right quadrant achieved scores of at least 1.5 in both dimensions and therefore merit further study.

52 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • August 2026

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