Nuclear Ships Clear Key Design Reviews, But Commercial Deployment Remains Elusive
Three separate approvals in principle for nuclear-powered commercial ships have been granted since June 2026, to a Korean consortium's molten salt reactor container ship, to a US-based company's small modular reactor (SMR) vessel, and to a European consortium's high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) ship. While these milestones mark significant progress in the development of nuclear-powered commercial shipping, industry experts caution that commercial deployment of these vessels is still potentially decades away.