Research Fellow Nivedita S, Senior Global Fellow, Youna Le Berre Lemaire Lyons (also Chair & Trustee, Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS)) and Head of Energy Law and Policy Denise Cheong  have co-authored an article on “Floating Nuclear at IMO: Protection of the Marine Environment from Potential Releases of Radioactive Substances” that has just been published in The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (online ahead of print 2025).

Abstract

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is considering alternative fuels and technologies to reduce the shipping sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. In this regard, there is growing interest in deploying civilian nuclear power in the maritime space, be it for ship propulsion or as a floating nuclear power plant (FNPP), which may itself be nuclear-powered. Given the risks of deploying nuclear power in the maritime environment, there are regulatory concerns about such potential deployment. The IMO Maritime Safety Committee discussed certain safety aspects of such deployment at its meeting in May 2024. Beyond safety considerations, this commentary highlights another regulatory gap concerning the pollution of the marine environment. It considers the applicability of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) to discharges of radioactive material from FNPP s, an issue that has yet to receive attention from IMO.

The article is available here.