ARLINGTON, Va. — This week, United States Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC) president and CEO, Todd Abrajano, was featured in E&E Newswhere he highlighted the nuclear industry’s growing interest in offshore nuclear technologies to provide safe, reliable power for coastal regions, offshore oil platforms, and floating data centers.
Read the full article in E&E News via Ian M. Stevenson here and below.
Offshore nuclear reactors? Agencies say they’re planning for that.
E&E News
Ian M. Stevenson
July 22, 2026
GREENWIRE | Two federal agencies announced a plan Wednesday to cooperate over ocean-based nuclear energy, a technology that is not commercially active in the U.S.
The Marine Minerals Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said they had signed a joint memorandum of understanding that “creates a framework” for deploying nuclear power in federal waters. MMA is the recently unified federal agency at the Interior Department that manages energy projects in the Outer Continental Shelf.
“While no commercial deployment on the Outer Continental Shelf is planned or approved at this time, it could greatly strengthen America’s energy security in the future,” MMA acting Director Matt Giacona said in a statement. “With nearly 3.2 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf under federal jurisdiction, this MOU is an important step toward building the technical expertise, regulatory clarity, and interagency coordination needed to assess whether and how this technology could be responsibly implemented in the years ahead.”
The three-page memo outlines the split authority over potential future nuclear projects in the ocean, including MMA’s role in awarding leases and rights-of-way and the NRC’s authority to conduct environmental analyses and issue licenses and permits.
While the U.S. does not have offshore nuclear reactors, Russia does. And the U.S. military deploys nuclear-powered submarines in its fleet of warships.
Environmentalists criticized the idea of expanding nuclear to offshore waters.
“The Trump administration seems to have a never-ending store of terrible ideas for mistreating ocean life, and nuclear reactors on rusty old oil platforms is one of its worst,” said Nick Katkevich, an oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Far-fetched science fiction scenarios won’t cover up the reality that oil companies just need to clean up the messes they make in our ocean.”
In addition to the government’s efforts to boost oil and gas production, the Trump administration has pushed to expand U.S. nuclear energy capacity.
“This agreement creates a clear framework for how our agencies will work together and ensures our processes remain efficient, transparent, and technically robust,” said
Jeremy Bowen, director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Advanced Reactors. “By combining expertise, we can provide clarity and confidence to potential future applicants and enable the safe, secure, and efficient deployment of emerging nuclear technologies.”
Still, installation of the technology would be at least 10 years away.
“There is growing interest in offshore nuclear technologies and their potential to provide safe, reliable power for coastal regions, offshore oil platforms, and floating data centers,” the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council’s CEO Todd Abrajano said in a statement. “While fleet-scale commercial deployment is likely a decade away, this agreement is a proactive step toward establishing the regulatory clarity needed to advance these technologies.”
