The US Department of Energy and classification society ABS have signed a cooperation agreement to study floating nuclear reactors, dedicated shipping corridors and the port infrastructure behind atomic-propulsion tonnage.

The pact with DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy covers feasibility studies across three workstreams: floating reactor units, dedicated nuclear shipping lanes, and the shipyard and industrial capacity required to support the vessels. ABS will co-manage a new Maritime Nuclear Applications Group and route the technical work through the US Maritime Administration's Center for Maritime Innovation.

What will the joint group actually do?

The agreement formalises a relationship that began in 2022, when DOE first contracted ABS to identify barriers to commercial nuclear propulsion at sea. Since then, ABS has published the industry's first standalone rules for floating nuclear power plants and added design approvals for two South Korean concepts.

In July, ABS approved in principle a 15,000 TEU containership built around a molten salt reactor — a South Korean concept that reached class review ahead of comparable gas- or steam-cooled proposals. The society had already approved floating nuclear power modules developed by HD Hyundai for offshore industrial use.

Last month, ABS backed a separate economic study of a 174,000 cu m nuclear-powered LNG carrier. Researchers concluded the vessel would cost about 2.5 times as much to build as a conventional LNG newbuild of the same capacity. Modelled carbon-pricing scenarios narrow the gap because the ship avoids large volumes of marine fuel combustion over its lifetime.

Who pays, and who blocks?

The joint framework does not commit either side to ordering ships. It instead sets up the technical, regulatory and financing conversations that any operator would face before placing a nuclear order. ABS chairman and CEO John McDonald framed the urgency in commercial terms: "Advanced nuclear technology is moving from concept to application, and the maritime industry needs to be ready for it."

The unresolved list is long. Port authorities have not licensed nuclear-powered merchant calls. Insurers and coast-guard authorities still have to write rules for civilian reactors on cargo ships. Nuclear fuel supply — from enrichment to dedicated refuelling berths — sits outside the agreement and remains a federal-level decision.

What does it change for shipowners and ports today?

For owners, the immediate effect is regulatory clarity rather than new steel. ABS approval in principle lets yards and designers quote nuclear options against a known set of class rules, shortening the early engineering cycle. For ports, the agreement signals that floating reactor siting and nuclear-powered berth calls will move onto federal planning agendas as the joint group reports back.

The next concrete milestones will be feasibility publications from the Maritime Nuclear Applications Group and any follow-on class approvals for HD Hyundai-style floating modules. Shipowners will be watching for those to land alongside port-state frameworks for civilian maritime reactors, the missing pieces that turn approved-in-principle drawings into financed newbuilds.