Floating Nuclear Power Plants: Governing the Dicephalus Beast

In the maritime decarbonization context, floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) are gaining attention for their ability to supply clean, stable energy to ports and shipping, although challenges and risks remain. In the absence of a purpose-built international legal framework for FNPPs, the governance of FNPPs will fall on existing international legal frameworks. This, in turn, raises concerns about their readiness to address the governance challenges posed by FNPPs, which straddle the nuclear and ocean/maritime domains—making them, in effect, a ‘dicephalus beast.’ This article seeks to (i) identify the ‘baseline’ of international legal instruments from both domains that could potentially apply to FNPPs and (ii) understand the extent to which such instruments come together to specifically govern the risks related to ionizing radiation posed by FNPPs and their associated activities. The article also considers the role of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in FNPP governance.