# Nuclear Ship Savannah

**URL:** <https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/nuclear-ship-savannah/3448>\
**Category:** Continuity\
**Tags:** nuclear-propulsion, ocean-transport\
**Created:** [14 July 2023 17:57 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/nuclear-ship-savannah/3448 "2023-07-14T17:57:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/user_avatar/scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/johnwalker/32/17415_2.png) [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\
**Post date:** [14 July 2023 17:57 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/nuclear-ship-savannah/3448/1 "2023-07-14T17:57:39Z")

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[![](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/2X/a/a0db89e3ea496a5ae64ac5f56816cac1b5f474db.jpeg "The Nuclear Ship Savannah") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA8W2Xpz2hA)

Nuclear Ship _[Savannah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah)_, launched on 1959-07-21, was the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship. It was funded by the U.S. government as part of the “[Atoms for Peace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atoms_for_Peace)” project as a demonstration of the use of nuclear power in maritime commerce. The ship was in service between 1962 and 1972, and was one of the only four [nuclear powered merchant ships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_marine_propulsion#Civilian_nuclear_ships) ever built to date. Of the four, only the _[Sevmorput](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevmorput)_, launched by the Soviet Union in 1986, remains in service today. Here is a photo of the _Sevmorput_ I took in 2008.

![](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/2X/1/16d7385260a1dc683683bb660794afb7b21ec415.jpeg)  
The reactor that powered the _Savannah_, unlike those used by naval nuclear powered submarines and surface ships, was fueled with reactor grade (less than 4.6% U-235) uranium. The ship had a cargo capacity of 14,040 tons and 60 passengers. The ship was subsequently converted to an all-cargo configuration in 1965.

The ship was named after [SS _Savannah_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Savannah), the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, which was also a commercial failure.

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**Author:** ![CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/user_avatar/scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/ctlaw/32/42_2.png) [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\
**Post date:** [14 July 2023 19:18 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/nuclear-ship-savannah/3448/2 "2023-07-14T19:18:36Z")

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It did not last long enough to become Jeff Bezos’s yacht.