Port of Long Beach signs deal to build small offshore nuclear reactors

For the first time in 50 years, California could see a new nuclear power project at one of the country's largest trade hubs. 

It involves small modular reactors, known as SMRs, which would generate electricity for the Port of Long Beach and the ships that pass through. Startup company Bluecore Energy, launched less than a year ago, will develop the new technology. 

"We're a few years away from the biggest energy crisis in a generation," founder and CEO Kofi Asante said. 

The SMRs are designed to float on barges. 

"My team and I took nuclear reactor technology that's been running power plants safely for 70 years, made it smaller and put it on a barge," Asante said. 

The port signed a cooperation agreement with the Federal Maritime Administration last month to help establish safety standards for the technology. Separately, the port has already leased a space at Berth 48 to Bluecore, where the company is building and testing its reactor. 

Bluecore said one SMR could power 15,000 homes. 

However, the project could face some hurdles, mainly the 1976 ban California placed on new nuclear construction. It's unclear if SMRs are included in that prohibition. 

"This is very unprecedented," USC engineering professor Dr. Najm Meshkati said. "However, it was expected because there is a resurgence in nuclear power in the U.S., in the large reactor and small reactor."

Meshkati also sits on the state's independent safety panel for Diablo Canyon, but made it clear he was speaking only for himself, not the committee. He said the physics behind small reactors isn't new, but placing one on a barge in a busy working port is a novel idea that should come with tougher, independent oversight. 

"We need to look at all these sources of energy equally and simultaneously but make sure that each one of them is implemented with the safest possible consideration," Meshkati said. 

Bluecore said it's moving fast. The company hasn't filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yet but the two sides are reportedly meeting on Monday. 

For now, the project remains in the early stages. As it progresses, it could reshape how and where California gets its power. Meshkati said the public has to stay involved with the process. 

"If there is a public meeting, please go there," he said. "Please question. Please keep the feet of the regulators and the industry people to the fire."