核动力推进，或核动力驱动，是一大类的推进系统使用核反应作为主要的功能装置，不特指船舰的动力，也可以是陆上，航天器的能量来源。很多潜艇，以及破冰船等使用核反应堆做为他们的动力装置。交通工具核动力化的尝试以船舰应用最为成功，主因有三，首先，船只体积较大，可以承载反应炉与相关设备，再者船只的庞大能源需求也与核动力的大量输出相匹配，三，取得核电设施的冷却源十分方便，考量船只正好是水上航运工具，所仰赖的水源取之不尽。

Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that fulfill the promise of the Atomic Age by using some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. The idea of using nuclear material for propulsion dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 it was hypothesised that radioactive material, radium, might be a suitable fuel for engines to propel cars, boats, and planes. H. G. Wells picked up this idea in his 1914 fiction work The World Set Free.