Bluecore Energy partners with Port of Long Beach on offshore nuclear barges

California, the state that effectively outlawed new nuclear power plants roughly half a century ago, is now home to a company building nuclear reactors on barges. Bluecore Energy has set up headquarters at the Port of Long Beach after raising $10 million in pre-seed funding, and its first 185-foot tank barge has already been delivered to the site.

The startup’s compact reactor design is a 10 MWe water-cooled small modular reactor mounted on a floating barge, capable of generating enough electricity to power approximately 15,000 homes. If it clears the regulatory gauntlet, this would represent the first new nuclear power development in California in about 50 years.

The deal with Long Beach and the feds

The Port of Long Beach signed a non-binding cooperation agreement with the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) in July 2026 to promote the development of SMR technology for maritime applications. It’s the first agreement of its kind for a US port.

The collaboration will involve joint efforts with the US Coast Guard and the Department of Energy to establish safety and operational standards for floating nuclear power. MARAD had issued a Request for Information regarding US-built commercial SMRs back in May 2026, and this partnership grew out of that process.

Bluecore’s initial target is shoreside power for ports and terminals, essentially replacing dirty diesel generators with emission-free nuclear energy. The longer-term vision extends to powering commercial vessels and even data centers.

The US Navy has been running reactors on submarines and aircraft carriers for decades. Russia put the world’s first floating nuclear power station into service on a barge back in 2020, powering a remote Arctic town.

Why California, of all places

The Port of Long Beach is the second-busiest container port in the US, and it has aggressive zero-emissions goals extending to 2050 that include increased container throughput.

Bluecore is currently in the engineering and regulatory preparation phase. The company has not yet submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its reactor design. No nuclear fuel or materials are currently stored at the Long Beach site.

The barge itself was acquired in June 2026 and delivered shortly after, along with an electric test reactor pressure vessel.

The broader SMR landscape

For investors watching the energy transition space, the regulatory pathway is the variable that matters most. NuScale Power, the furthest-along US SMR developer, saw its first planned deployment cancelled in 2023 after cost overruns.

Bluecore’s $10 million pre-seed round is modest by nuclear standards, where development costs routinely run into the billions. The company will need significantly more capital to move from barge delivery to operational reactor. But the federal partnership with MARAD, combined with a concrete physical location and hardware on-site, gives Bluecore a foundation that most nuclear startups at this stage simply don’t have.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.