Bluecore Energy, an American marine startup, has supplied its first shipment of enriched uranium for its floating energy system. The Long Beach-based company has purchased uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) with a 4.95% enrichment of uranium-235 from nuclear fuel broker WMC.
Storage Location and Progress Stages
This material is stored at an undisclosed nuclear fuel facility outside California, while Bluecore moves towards fuel production, testing, and validation stages. UF₆ is used in the uranium enrichment process and is then converted to uranium dioxide to be turned into fuel pellets for reactors.
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Future Steps for Bluecore
This move takes Bluecore a step beyond engineering and fuel-less prototypes, as the company is developing a compact water-cooled reactor designed from the ground up for deployment on a floating platform. The company's first system is designed based on a 10-megawatt reactor, with the initial goal of providing power for ports, data centers, and coastal infrastructure. In the long term, Bluecore is also looking to transfer technology towards marine propulsion.
WMC's nuclear fuel team leader, Per Jander, emphasized, "Securing a reliable nuclear fuel source is a fundamental part of advancing any reactor program." This comes as WMC engages in the buying, selling, storing, and transporting of materials in the nuclear fuel cycle.
Bluecore has recently emerged from obscurity and is rapidly establishing the physical and regulatory aspects related to its project. The company secured $50 million in an initial funding round in September, followed by $10 million in pre-seed funding. This capital is allocated for engineering, hardware development, testing, regulatory work, and production.
Bluecore has also initiated formal regulatory communications this summer, holding its first pre-application meeting with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August. The company is pursuing classification in parallel, and the ABS organization granted principle approval for Bluecore's floating nuclear power plant concept in June.
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