Samsung and US firm team up to create floating nuclear power platform

Summary

Samsung Heavy Industries and US-based engineering firm Sargent & Lundy have signed a letter of intent in Washington, D.C., aiming to develop a standardized, reactor-agnostic floating small modular reactor (FSMR) platform. This move builds on the Approval in Principle (AIP) that Samsung received in December 2025 from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for two SMART100 (110 MW each) marine nuclear designs.

Why it matters

Floating SMRs promise factory-built, deployable nuclear power for coastal cities, remote communities, and offshore energy projects, eliminating on-site construction costs and delays. Given Washington's growing interest in domestic nuclear capacity, this US market focus is notable. Furthermore, a reactor-agnostic platform could streamline licensing by decoupling the hull from the core. However, since the project is still at the letter of intent stage, commercial timelines and regulatory pathways remain unproven.

Highlights

• The platform is designed to be reactor-agnostic, supporting multiple SMR types rather than a single one, to avoid dependency on a single supplier.
• Samsung holds an Approval in Principle (AIP) from ABS for a floating platform with two SMART100 units, secured in December 2025, providing a concrete engineering starting point for the project.
• Russia's Akademik Lomonosov (70 MW, Pevek, Chukotka) remains the only operational floating nuclear plant, having crossed the 1 TWh threshold in 2025.

Critical take

This is a non-binding letter of intent. There are no committed capital figures, fixed timelines, or named reactor suppliers for US deployment. Despite this, the article's promotional language ('a significant step for clean energy') reads as if the product is about to hit the market. The text also contains a name inconsistency for S&L's Chief Nuclear Officer (Siben Sulka vs. Shiven Sulkar) and offers no details on the US NRC licensing pathway, which is the biggest regulatory hurdle for any foreign-designed SMR entering US waters.