The Port of Long Beach start-up has closed a $50 million seed round led by Silverton Partners. The money will fund barge-mounted small reactors for ports, data centres and coastal sites.
Bluecore Energy has raised $50 million in seed funding to speed up work on its floating nuclear plants. Silverton Partners led the round, announced on 8 September. Existing investor Slauson & Co. took a large further stake, alongside new and returning backers. The raise expands a $10 million pre-seed round disclosed when the company came out of stealth in July.
The company will spend the money on engineering and hardware, testing, permits and classification, manufacturing and hiring. Its goal is to move its first system towards deployment.
Reactors on barges
Bluecore is building small, water-cooled reactors that sit on floating barges. The first system should deliver around 10 MW of continuous power. It should run for years at a time and need fuel only every few years. The company is building it at the Port of Long Beach in California, where it has secured its first barge.
Putting a reactor on water changes where nuclear power can go. Bluecore says future systems could serve ports, AI data centres and coastal sites from the water, including offshore. That pitch lands as data centre owners hunt for firm, low-carbon power close to demand.
Regulators and the road to deployment
Bluecore has begun formal talks with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the US Coast Guard. The two agencies will need to work together. A reactor on a barge raises questions neither has answered alone. Bluecore calls this the start of a joint process to settle those marine issues.
Kofi Asante, Founder and Chief Executive of Bluecore Energy, said the company had moved quickly since July. “Six months ago, we were building the foundation,” he said. “Today, we have the capital, the team, the hardware, and some of the most important institutions in nuclear and maritime working alongside us. Our focus now is simple: create and deliver zero-emission energy as safely and quickly as possible.”
Silverton Partners said in a statement that the design “has the potential to open an entirely new market for nuclear energy”.
Floating reactors remain an untested business model. Approval for new nuclear designs also takes years. Even so, the round puts a marine option alongside the land-based small reactor firms chasing the same data centre demand.
