These small nuclear power plants will use molten salt in their fuel, making them safer and more versatile and portable than traditional nuclear power plants.
Nuclear power is leveling up, with plans for an entire floating power plant fueled by something you'd least expect to find in a reactor—table salt. By the mid-2030s, a fleet of smaller floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) that use "molten salt reactors" could form the largest floating power plant in the U.S. Nuclear innovation company Core Power, based in the U.K., dreamed up the design, and its Liberty program will oversee construction of the plant. A central shipyard will manage the build, keeping up with tasks such as maintenance and refueling. Some of the FNPPs in the fleet can be stationed near the coast, while others will be further out in the ocean. A definite location for the FNPP has not yet been announced. Rather than the typical fuel powering a nuclear reactor, uranium-235 rods, these reactors will be using salt and powdered uranium oxide melted together. Instead of the water used in traditional generators, salt will also be used as a coolant, virtually eliminating the risk of evaporation. The Liberty Project's network of mass-produced FNPPs is expected to generate around 175 GWh of clean electricity per year. That is an enormous shift from fossil fuels, which have been warming the planet and wreaking havoc with the climate worldwide over the last 150 years. While efforts in more eco-friendly energy sources like wind and solar have been gaining momentum, energy production still makes up about three-quarters of total greenhouse gas emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency. "We have an opportunity to use energy differently," said Core Power CEO Mikal Bøe at a recent summit in London. "The output [of fossil fuels] is exhaust gases, and those are the heart of the decarbonization debate. In a sense, the challenge here is if we're going to solve decarbonization." Molten salt reactors were first conceived in the 1960s by scientists at…