On May 14, 2025, Flibe Energy’s Kirk Sorensen took part in the Joint IAEA-GIF Webinar on Advanced Nuclear Technologies for Maritime Applications, a session watched by hundreds of attendees around the world. Introduced by Dr. Patricia Paviet, Sorensen spoke for about fifteen minutes on the role molten-salt reactors could play in the maritime environment.

He reminded the audience that nuclear power was originally developed as an engine for mobile submarines and the NS Savannah rather than as a static installation for terrestrial power, and that the molten-salt reactor itself began as a mobile reactor concept. He highlighted the molten-salt reactor’s ability to operate at high temperature and low pressure, to be refueled during operation, and to change power level quickly — qualities well suited to maritime applications.

Sorensen also described the opportunity presented by the United States’ vast inland waterway network, where many coal-fired plants situated along rivers are being retired. Barge-mounted molten-salt reactors, built in shipyards in quantity, could move along those waterways to repower decommissioned plant sites. He closed on a concept he has explored for two decades — a submersible reactor installation that could deliver power to terrestrial loads while providing benefits such as desalinated water.