Floating nuclear reactors are increasingly viewed as potential solutions for building the energy resilience of coastal or island microgrids and shoring up power supplies following natural disasters. 

Remote coastal communities like those on the west coast of Sumatra or the northeast corner of Sri Lanka struggle with annual natural disasters. Southeast Asia’s tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and heavy rains result in flooding, landslides, and infrastructure damage. That almost always means losing power. While some states in the United States have seen outages during extreme weather, these Southeast Asian communities experience an entirely different scale of damage. Transmission lines collapse, power plants are destroyed, fuel supply chains fracture, and decentralized microgrids struggle to meet surging demand.  

As Christel Hiltibran, the director of International Policy for the Climate and Energy Program for Third Way and a former US Army Civil Affairs Officer, explains, “Energy security is a daily concern for these villages, and the central governments often cannot reach them due to the challenging terrain and dispersed population centers, common in archipelago nations.” During her military humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in Southeast Asia, she saw firsthand that these disasters can prolong humanitarian crises, burden economic growth, and diminish a state’s legitimacy when it is unable to provide basic needs to its people.   

However, according to Hiltibran, one technology that is starting to show promise as a potential future solution is Floating Nuclear Power Plants (FNPPs). “This form of advanced nuclear energy offers a climate mitigation measure in the long run and a resilient energy source in the near-term for communities facing constant setbacks in the power sector. And to add a cherry on top, US nuclear exports would reinforce diplomatic ties and democratic partnerships in a region increasingly influenced by China and Russia.”

Energy Resilience as Strategic Leverage 

Many Indo-Pacific nations are racing to modernize their electricity systems to support industrial growth, advanced manufacturing, and climate adaptation. Floating nuclear reactors have the potential to drive this industrial strategy, and during disasters, deliver energy when land-based sources are knocked offline. These offshore mobile power plants are capable of delivering reliable baseload power directly to coastal or island microgrids and represent a massive step change in resilience. By operating independently of vulnerable terrestrial infrastructure, such platforms can sustain hospitals, desalination plants, ports, communications networks, and emergency response hubs during and after disasters. Offshore models also make them resilient to tsunamis. Over time, they can anchor economic development by enabling cold storage, fisheries processing, advanced manufacturing, and port electrification. 

This application is made realistic by the development of advanced nuclear reactors. Advanced reactors offer significant benefits compared to their traditional counterparts, including smaller size and infrastructure requirements, modularity, and increased passive safety. When an advanced reactor is placed on a vessel, Hiltibran believes that for humanitarian assistance missions, the implications are profound.  

According to Hiltibran, “Persistent, resilient power reduces the cost and duration of disaster response while accelerating recovery. For partner nations, it strengthens governance capacity. For the United States, it enhances credibility as a security and development partner capable of delivering tangible public goods, not merely promises. It is in the United States’ national interest to deploy floating nuclear reactors not only in the Indo-Pacific and other strategic global maritime environments, but also to meet its own coastal power demand.”

Great Power Competition at Sea 

Sanjana Shashikumar, a senior regulatory analyst at CORE POWER, explains that the concept is not merely theoretical, and other actors around the world are also looking at this emerging technology. 

Strategic competitors are already deploying floating nuclear energy as an instrument of state power. Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, a floating nuclear power plant utilizing pressurized light-water reactor technology, has been operational in the Arctic since 2020. Beyond powering their own remote regions, it serves as a geopolitical signal: Moscow can deliver mobile sources of energy and is looking to export nuclear infrastructure to high-demand environments, regardless of governance norms. 

China has also drawn similar lessons. Beijing has openly explored floating nuclear concepts for use in contested maritime zones, including the South China Sea, most recently revealing designs for nuclear-propelled ships they plan to launch in the early 2030s. Energy infrastructure is influential infrastructure. China’s Belt and Road Initiative provides a sobering example. Control over power generation shapes economic dependency, political alignment, and strategic access. 

Shashikumar asserts that the United States cannot afford strategic complacency and is appropriately positioned to lead this industry.  

“American companies such as CORE POWER are designing next-generation floating nuclear power plants that surpass Russia and China in technology design and safety. These reactors promise passive safety features, smaller footprints, and adaptability across civilian and government missions.”

Shashikumar explains that while CORE POWER’s focus is to develop FNPPs primarily for commercial grid and industrial applications, it is possible that the same platforms could also be used to support humanitarian missions.  

Much work would need to be done on the model but were governments to enter into long-term service arrangements with providers like CORE POWER to supply clean power to government or strategic installations, they could, in theory, also deploy those platforms for humanitarian response in a crisis, similar in concept to how US hospital ships are currently used.  

Shashikumar believes properly deployed US technology could set the global gold standard for floating nuclear power. 

From Innovation to Statecraft 

However, she argues, technological superiority alone does not guarantee strategic impact. “The regulatory and institutional architecture governing nuclear energy remains anchored in large land-based reactors. Advanced floating systems designed for offshore deployment, rapid scalability, and dual-use applications do not fit neatly within existing licensing, liability, or export frameworks.”

“This gap presents a strategic opportunity to update the frameworks necessary to ensure floating reactors can be deployed in ways that could be transformative for disaster relief and near-shore power generation, with the United States firmly at the vanguard of their development.”

Shashikumar added that “Commercial and military applications must advance in tandem. Civilian deployments can strengthen American energy resilience, while exports can deepen alliances and offer partner nations a viable alternative to Russian or Chinese energy dependence. Military procurement can strengthen national security by decreasing costs and reliance on other nations for energy and fuel. A floating reactor powering a disaster-prone coastal region today could support a forward logistics hub or expeditionary base tomorrow.”

A Bipartisan Strategic Imperative 

For Hiltibran, in the Indo-Pacific’s most vulnerable regions, energy resilience underwrites political stability. “Floating nuclear power offers the United States a rare opportunity to deliver resilience, growth, and strategic influence in a single platform. Should Washington not seize the opportunity, others will define the future of maritime nuclear power, and the future of the Indo-Pacific.” 

Both experts agree that floating nuclear power is neither a partisan issue nor a niche technology. It is a proven strategic asset. If the United States intends to maintain soft power, economic influence, and geopolitical leadership in an era of intensifying competition, it must deploy its energy infrastructure and technological advantages where they matter most. 

That requires bipartisan alignment across Congress, the executive branch, industry, and allies around advanced nuclear energy as a core instrument of foreign policy and national security. It also requires urgency. Our competitors are already acting. 

About the Authors: Christel Hiltibran and Sanjana Shashikumar 

Christel Hiltibran is the director of international policy of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program, where she leads efforts to shape and advance America’s internationally-facing climate and energy policy. Christel previously served as a US Army officer. Christel holds an MS in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in political science from Loyola University Maryland. 

Sanjana Shashikumar serves as a Senior Regulatory Analyst at CORE POWER in Washington, DC. Through her work, she analyzes regulations across the maritime and nuclear energy sectors to support the deployment of advanced technologies. Sanjana works closely with regulatory bodies, including the US Coast Guard and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and engages with industry stakeholders on regulatory and policy matters. Sanjana received a BS in International Affairs and Economics from The George Washington University.

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