Nuclear Power Container Ships

Professor Kadak and a graduate student from the Navy are working on the design of a nuclear powered container ship. While not a new idea since the Savannah was a commercial nuclear ship that operated from 1962 to 1971, current demands for new ships require higher speeds and power levels. The objective is to design twin reactors with 10 year lifetimes between refuelings using low enriched cores for duty cycles demanded for economic operation. Safety of floating nuclear plants will be reviewed as a part of the design project. Challenges that will be addressed beyond the technical are licensing and operations in world ports. The economics of nuclear powered commercial ships will be addressed as a function of the rising fuel costs.