Tuesday, 11 March 2025
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Partially funded by a CAD2.75 million (USD1.9 million) Government of Canada award to Prodigy under the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Enabling SMRs programme, this project will produce models for Transportable Nuclear Power Plant (TNPP) marine fabrication, marine transport and centralised decommissioning.
Prodigy and Lloyd’s Register expect this collaboration to demonstrate how a country can manufacture, deploy, operate and decommission transportable and floating nuclear power plant technologies without making major changes to sovereign regulatory frameworks.
Montreal-based Prodigy is developing two sizes of facilities: the Prodigy Microreactor Power Station TNPP and the SMR Marine Power Station TNPP, which can integrate different sizes and types of nuclear reactors. Prodigy says its Transportable Nuclear Power Plants are not barges with reactors onboard – they are purpose-designed, marine fabricated buildings qualified to house operating nuclear reactors. All systems and components are contained within the plant, reducing the need for additional land-based buildings. They are customisable from 1-1000 MWe gross output, and can be tailored for high-heat applications. The company is collaborating with Westinghouse to develop a Transportable Nuclear Power Plant featuring the Westinghouse eVinci microreactor.
UK-based classification society and professional advisory service Lloyd’s Register said it is supporting Prodigy in combining best in class practices across the maritime, nuclear and offshore industries to create a novel, but practical, power plant lifecycle approach. This will ensure TNPPs meet Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and International Atomic Energy Agency requirements for nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
“In a world where demand for more nuclear generation is surging, Prodigy’s transportable nuclear facilities are emerging as missing puzzle pieces to mass customise small modular reactor new builds,” said Prodigy President and CEO Mathias Trojer. “The development of our lifecycle requirements has progressed significantly over the past two years, and will benefit greatly from Lloyd’s Register’s experience and recommendations.”
Mark Tipping, Global Offshore Power To X Director at Lloyd’s Register, added: “This project with Prodigy is notable as it is one of the first to establish guidelines for transportable and floating nuclear power plants. We are developing models based on real-world use cases with specific inputs from end-users, setting a potential global standard. These models will be valuable for sovereign regulators and international marine fabricators as they work to position themselves in the emerging global maritime nuclear energy market.”
Prodigy said it is working with a multinational mining company for its first Transportable Nuclear Power Plant project, aiming to supply power to a large remote critical minerals cluster in Canada. Phase II feasibility studies are under way, which include gathering site and environmental data, performing a prototypical test programme, and engagement with the local Indigenous communities. Transportable Nuclear Power Plant deployment is designed to offset diesel generation, supplying lower-cost, reliable and carbon-free electricity and heat for up to 60 years.
In March last year, Prodigy and Des Nëdhé Group – an Indigenous Economic Development Corporation – signed a memorandum of understanding to develop opportunities to power remote mines and communities in Canada using Prodigy microreactor TNPPs. Under the MoU, Prodigy and Des Nëdhé will explore potential TNPP projects, and engage with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis across Canada, identifying ways in which Indigenous Peoples could have ownership in TNPP new builds, and how an Indigenous workforce could take a leading role in TNPP commercialisation and strategic infrastructure development.
