Analysis of Government Applications for Derisking Commercial Maritime Nuclear Applications

The U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation (USCMI) is building a collaborative team to assess how government experience with advanced nuclear technologies can reduce risk for future commercial maritime nuclear applications, including vessel transportation and maritime power generation.

The opportunity

USCMI is seeking participants for a collaborative project on the application of small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced nuclear technologies to the maritime sector. The project will assess existing and prospective government applications with maritime relevance to identify transferable lessons, precedents and enabling approaches that can reduce technical, regulatory, programmatic and commercialization risk.

The analysis will review government programs, policies, pilot projects and use cases, including naval nuclear propulsion, U.S. Department of Energy microreactor and advanced reactor demonstrations, national laboratory SMR research, NASA space nuclear systems, and pilot initiatives involving nuclear-powered autonomous vessels or floating nuclear power plants. It will compare approaches to regulatory approval, safety case development, security and safeguards, public acceptance, supply chains, workforce readiness, waste management and decommissioning.

USCMI will execute this project as Secretariat Managed. The Secretariat will select and engage multiple organizations to carry out the defined Scope of Work as a collective group. At least one facilitated, interactive stakeholder engagement will review the assembled research, with outcomes summarized in a report planned for public release.

This is a funded project, and participants may receive funding based on role and level of effort. The project budget includes up to $350K for analytic support. USCMI funding is prioritized for domestic entities as recipients.

The outcomes of this project are planned for public release. The USCMI will respect all project team members’ intellectual property rights in compliance with applicable federal law and the project agreements governing the scope of work.

Participant roles

Role 01

Setting up and executing the analyses

Help establish the analytic framework, identify and evaluate potential candidate government applications, and identify application concepts. The analytic support role includes the design, planning and execution of the analysis.

Up to $350K estimated, not to exceed

Role 02

Stakeholder review of analyses and report outcomes

Participate on the industry advisory board and provide key stakeholder perspectives on the criteria, analyses and outcomes relating to government applications for maritime nuclear technologies.

Industry advisory board stakeholder perspectives

Download the documents

Need help accessing the document? Request the Scope of Work by email.

How to apply

Submit a short response of no more than five pages that notes the role or roles of interest, identifies the specific elements of the Scope of Work your organization is applying to support, documents demonstrated capabilities and estimates costs or rates for participation.

Note the role or roles of interest.
Identify the Scope of Work elements you would support.
Document your demonstrated capabilities.
Provide estimated costs or rates for participation.
Submit by 11:59 P.M. ET on October 23, 2026.

Email responses to info@uscmi.org or use the link below.

Submit your response

USCMI funding is prioritized for domestic entities as recipients. Questions may be directed to info@uscmi.org. Additional project opportunities will be announced separately, and updates to this notice may be issued.

About USCMI

The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 directs the Secretary of Transportation, through a competitive cooperative agreement, to establish the U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation to support the study, research, development, assessment and deployment of emerging marine technologies and practices related to the maritime transportation system (MTS). USCMI is authorized under the Maritime Administration (MARAD) Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance (META) program and serves as a national resource for agencies that oversee and develop the MTS.