Lloyd’s Register (LR) brought together senior leaders from maritime, the nuclear industry and international regulation for a high-level roundtable at Posidonia 2026 to examine what needs to happen next to make nuclear propulsion a viable option for commercial shipping.
Held on 1 June at the Athens Olympic Museum, the closed-door session gathered around 20 senior representatives from shipowners, regulators, reactor developers and industry bodies, alongside invited observers.
The session was designed to move the conversation beyond theory, focusing on the practical pathways needed to enable safe and commercially viable nuclear-powered shipping.
The roundtable was opened by Panos Mitrou SVP Shipping Strategy, LR, and featured an address from Karine Herviou, Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as a video welcome from Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Chaired by Mark Tipping, LR’s Power to X Director, the discussion focused on key areas where progress will determine whether nuclear can move beyond concept stage. Participants examined how regulatory frameworks can evolve to support controlled demonstration without compromising safety, how commercial models might develop to manage the high upfront costs, and where nuclear may have advantages over other zero-carbon fuel options.
Contributors highlighted the absence of an established international framework tailored to civil nuclear applications at sea. At the same time, participants stressed that regulation must move in parallel with technology development, rather than waiting for mature designs to emerge.
The economic case for nuclear also came under scrutiny. Participants explored potential cost drivers, investment models and areas of disruption across ship design, operations and infrastructure. While recognising the significant barriers to entry, the discussion acknowledged that early adopters could gain a competitive advantage as technologies mature.
Comparisons with other fuel pathways formed a central part of the debate. Delegates considered the relative efficiencies, system constraints and integration challenges of nuclear alongside other transitional alternative fuels.
The roundtable also provided an opportunity to outline progress on the Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) initiative. The project aims to establish a clear framework for the safe and secure deployment of civil nuclear technologies in maritime applications, addressing key regulatory, safety and assurance challenges.
Deputy Director General Karine Herviou said: “This is a very important conversation. One of the main issues is the need to have an international framework to provide regulatory predictability.
“The ATLAS initiative has as its objective the need to identify this international framework, and reach consensus needed to create harmonisation of the requirements of different countries.”
Nick Brown, Lloyd’s Register CEO, said: “LR is delighted to hold this important conversation bringing together the highest level of international maritime influencers to the table.
“We brought together the nuclear industry, the maritime industry, and regulation. We heard of the very clear and compelling speed that the regulation needs to be here because we have small modular reactors starting to go critical within the next month.
“Today’s conversation was a very clear indication that the work of ATLAS, the work of the UK Maritime Nuclear Consortium, the work of NEMO, is going to be demanded by industry to ensure that there is a path to application and scale.”
Reflecting on the roundtable conversation, Mark Tipping, Power to X Director, Lloyd’s Register, said: “Today’s roundtable convened a unique blend of maritime nuclear, maritime, government and regulatory leaders.
“It presented an opportunity that participants were eager to engage in – understanding each other’s requirements but also projecting what each aspect of the value chain requires from each other to build a unified approach to delivering nuclear in maritime.”
Alongside the roundtable, LR will announce progress on a joint development project with Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), Hyundai Glovis, G-Marine Service and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), focused on an advanced small modular reactor (SMR) installation on a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC).
The partners will mark a key milestone for the project with an Approval in Principle (AiP) ceremony at the LR stand during Posidonia on Tuesday 2 June.
