Offshore Small Modular Reactor (OSMR): An Innovative Plant Design for Societally Acceptable and Economically Attractive Nuclear Energy in a Post-Fukushima, Post-9/11 World

The potential for major gains in safety, physical protection and economics of nuclear energy exists through the development of a floating Offshore Small Modular Reactor (OSMR). This is a plant that can be entirely built (and decommissioned) as a floating rig in a shipyard, floated to the operating site (within 8–15 km of the coast), anchored in relatively deep water (i.e., ∼100 m), and connected to the grid via an underwater transmission line. The OSMR design presented here features innovative passive and indefinite emergency core and containment cooling systems that eliminate the loss of ultimate heat sink accident, thus decreasing the likelihood of severe accidents. Furthermore, the OSMR containment design and back-up venting procedures effectively eliminate the threat of serious land contamination, should a severe accident actually occur.