The Danish company (formerly known as Seaborg) says it is expanding its operations in the US and plans to submit its Regulatory Engagement Plan to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the first quarter of 2027.
It says it believes it will be the first advanced reactor developer to be licensed under , and the first for an advanced maritime small modular reactor anywhere. Part 53 “establishes a risk-informed, performance-based, and technology-inclusive regulatory framework as an alternative for the licensing and regulation of commercial nuclear plants”.
Saltfoss said it planned to “significantly increase its activities in the US, including reactor assembly, fuel loading and final power plant integration at US facilities. Manufacturing of power barges will remain with its partner Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea”.
“Saltfoss will leverage the Korean nuclear and shipbuilding supply chain for high-efficiency hull and barge series production, combined with US nuclear supply-chain participation for reactor payload construction and integration – a dual-hub manufacturing model that will deliver the lowest cost path to first deployment and scale while preserving allied supply-chain resilience.”
The seaMSR-100 is a molten salt reactor operating near atmospheric pressure at between 600 and 700 degrees Celsius, using low-enriched uranium. Because its fuel salt solidifies below about 500 degrees Celsius, trapping radioactive material, the reactor shuts down and drains by gravity alone, without operator action or external power.
Saltfoss has been developing the seaMSR for six years, finishing its conceptual design in 2025. A loop-style molten salt reactor, it is standardised as 100 MWe power modules, which can be deployed on barges providing up to 600 MWe. The company sees the potential uses as including “coastal industrial power and heat, grid baseload and hyperscale data centres”.
Klaus Nyengaard, CEO of Saltfoss, said: “We are combining a US reactor design heritage proven at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with the world-class shipbuilding and nuclear supply chain of South Korea. This combination ensures that Saltfoss can credibly deliver the first-of-a-kind plant under the new Part 53 framework.”
The company says it will align its application path with Korea’s National Safety and Security Commission “with Korea expected to host some of the platform’s first commercial deployments outside the US”.
