American Nuclear Power Barge Startup Buys its First Uranium Fuel
American ambitions to bring nuclear power back to the waterfront are gathering steam: Bluecore Energy, the Long Beach-based floating nuclear power startup, has bought its first supply of low-enriched uranium, a 4.95-percent blend of U-235 suitable for a commercial nuclear power installation.
Floating nuclear power has a long history, beginning with the USS Sturgis, a WWII-era Liberty Ship converted into a moored powerplant in the 1960s. Rosatom reinvigorated the concept with the construction of the moored nuclear power barge Akademic Lomonosov in the 2010s, and the idea has seen a resurgence in the United States in recent years. The concept has strong support from the U.S. Maritime Administration, including both sea-going and permanently-moored applications (like Bluecore's). The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has been closely involved in an advisory and R&D capacity for years, and is providing Bluecore with class services, starting with an AIP issued in June 2026.
Bluecore's BC-15 reactor is traditional: a conventional pressurized-water reactor using a commercial, standardized fuel assembly. According to its regulatory application with the Department of Energy, Bluecore picked well-known and approved reactor technology in order to focus the regulatory review on the maritime aspects - mounting a reactor on a barge and operating it at a port. That part of the regulatory process will involve both the Department of Energy and the U.S. Coast Guard, within their respective areas of expertise.
Bluecore is headquartered within the Port of Long Beach, with which it has a strong partnership - but the fuel will not be coming to California. It is currently stored in the form of uranium hexafluoride (UF6), an intermediate stage before conversion to the uranium dioxide (UO2) used in fuel pellets. The supplier, Dutch commodity firm WMC, has America's largest commercial nuclear fuel facility.
"Having access to the expertise and infrastructure at the largest commercial nuclear fuel facility in the U.S. allows us to approach this next phase with the rigor it requires. Our goal is not simply to move fast. It is to create and deliver zero-emission energy as safely and quickly as possible," said Megan Moyette, a former nuclear-sub officer who now serves as Bluecore's Licensing & Safety Lead.
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The purchase follows shortly after Bluecore's announcement of a successful $50 million seed round.
Bluecore's selection of a conventional reactor design avoids the proliferation risk that attends higher levels of uranium enrichment. Blends in the range of 10-20 percent U-235 (High assay low enriched uranium, or HALEU) feature in many competing "advanced reactor" designs, and concerns about the dual-use nature of uranium in this enrichment range have been raised before. U.S. Navy reactor designs rely on 93 percent U-235 fuel, the same grade used to manufacture nuclear weapons, and every aspect of their security is closely managed. Enrichment levels in the five percent range, as used by Bluecore, are not considered a proliferation risk.
