Samsung Heavy certified for CMSR power barge design

South Korea's main shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries said on Wednesday that it has completed the conceptual design for the compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) power barge, a floating facility for offshore nuclear power plants, and earned basic certification from the American Bureau of Shipping.

CMSR power barge is a whole new concept power generation facility that supplies electricity and thermal energy generated by small molten salt reactor technology at sea to land. As it is relatively less demanding in terms of site selection and facility constraints, it takes as little as two years to build at a lower cost.

The CMSR power barge developed by Samsung Heavy Industries can mount two to eight 100-megawatt CMSRs depending on power demand. It is analogous to a "nuclear power plant on the sea" equipped with a steam turbine generator as well as transmission and distribution facilities on a floating vessel.

In January last year, the company entered into an agreement with Seaborg, a Danish CMSR developer, and set out to develop a floating nuclear power plant. Starting with classification certification for the concept design of the floating ship, the company plans to commercialize the technology by 2028 after demonstrating the feasibility of the CMSR and going through a detailed design of the entire power generator.
 
"We will complete the process that will lead the future new market through a continuous effort to develop and commercialize the technology for the floating nuclear power plant," said Yeo Dong-il, managing director in charge of offshore design at Samsung Heavy Industries.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com