Ocean Power: Floating Nuclear Power Plants under the Law of the Sea

Roeben, Volker

Abstract

States Parties to the UN Convention on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are responsible for exploring uses of the oceans that may reduce carbon emissions and the resulting deleterious effects on the marine environment. uclear energy is a component of many states’ planning for a low-carbon energy future, yet conventional land-based nuclear reactors have been beset by high costs, lack of access to cooling water, and safety concerns for population centres on land. This has triggered the search for alternative sea-based sites, offering carbon-neutral electricity, cost reduction, and heightened safety and security. Floating Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) is a marine low-carbon energy solution, particularly but not exclusively for remote islands and Arctic territories. It may give more states access to nuclear energy, if the marine environmental risks can be controlled. While the Russian-built Akademik Lomonosov is the only operational FNPP worldwide, the technology has sufficiently advanced for this article to explore whether the law of the sea provides a framework for the legally certain and environmentally sound development and deployment of this technology. This framework depends on whether FNPP can be classified as ships/vessels with navigational rights for all states or alternatively as installations or structures. subject to coastal states’ sovereign rights, compliance with marine environmental protection obligations and .and athe other international instruments including those developed by the International Maritime Organisation. The law of sea is supplemented by international nuclear energy law.

Citation

Roeben, V. (in press). Ocean Power: Floating Nuclear Power Plants under the Law of the Sea. The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 3, 2025
• Deposit Date: Mar 5, 2025
• Journal: The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
• Print ISSN: 0927-3522
• Electronic ISSN: 1571-8085
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3672205