The paper presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art on the design and analysis of floating nuclear power plants (FNPs). The recent accelerated growth of the offshore oil industry has considerably increased the confidence in the offshore FNP concept in view of the vast potential for the transposition of available technology. The main advantages of FNPs are: (1) unlimited supply of the cooling water; (2) isolation of thermal, noise and radioactive pollution; (3) elimination of the need for large areas of unoccupied lands usually required for safety precaution; and (4) financial savings by using standardized design and production line approach. The topics covered in this paper are: • Offshore concept evaluation: (i) Comparison of the various offshore concepts, namely, artificial islands, jack-up type, floating-deep, floating-shallow and sea bed, including evaluation based on cost, environmental impact, feasibility, plant vulnerability and nuclear safety; (ii) acceptability of the offshore floating-deep plant as the most suitable concept. • Siting considerations: (i) Factors influencing site selection with some reference to the economic ergonomic and environmental constraints; (ii) study of bearing capacity, slope stability and settlement, liquefaction potential and scouring behaviour of the sea bed. • Environmental considerations: (i) Effect of the plant on the surrounding environment; (ii) evaluation of environmental loads — wind, waves, currents, ice, earthquake, tsunamis, etc. • Design considerations: (i) Conceptual design of the main components of the FNP: (a) the floating platform for combinations of dead, imposed and environmental loadings; (b) bottom-fixed and floating breakwaters; (c) the mooring systems; (d) power transmission cables; and (e) other components like in-take structures and cooling systems. • Fabrication and installation procedures: Rules, regulations and recommendations in fabrication and installation of the offshore floating structures. • Static and dynamic analyses: Discussion of available analytical procedures for the static and dynamic analysis of (a) the floating platform; (b) the breakwaters; and (c) the mooring systems. • Model studies: (i) Scaling of the model; (ii) two- and three-dimensional model studies to evaluate (a) platform motion to environmental loads, (b) the hydrodynamic coefficients of the platform, and (c) the mooring strut forces, etc. • Other considerations: (i) Fatigue and crack propagation; (ii) stability criteria; (iii) foundation analysis; (iv) safety; (v) waste disposal; (vi) instrumentation; (vii) corrosion control; (ix) noise and vibration levels; (x) legal aspects; and (xi) cost estimates. The presentation includes a detailed list of references and a selected bibliography. • Discussion: The immediate need for further research in the following areas is indicated: (i) probabilities of failure; (ii) improved mathematical modelling techniques; (iii) dynamic analysis including water-structure interaction, taking into account the nonlinear effects of the supporting medium and the mooring systems; (iv) model testing; and (v) water sloshing within the breakwater.