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The Soviets sure liked nuclear energy. The only remaining nuclear icebreaker/merchant ship (the Sevmorput) is still in operation. However it's a bit tricky to a

The Soviets sure liked nuclear energy. The only remaining nuclear icebreaker/merchant ship (the Sevmorput) is still in operation. However it's a bit tricky to actually ship anything with it as most countries don't allow it to enter their ports, let alone their water. They mostly use it to ship stuff to Antarctica.

Alupis 6y ago
> However it's a bit tricky to actually ship anything with it as most countries don't allow it to enter their ports, let alone their water I'm curious, why is that? The US, and other nations, routinely sail nuclear powered ships into ports all around the world.
- Fezzik 6y ago
  My hunch is that most Western countries would be hesitant to allow anything that is nuclear + Russian on their shores. This article does not answer your question, but it sounds like as of 12/2020 the boat may be headed to the scrapyard due to needing costly repairs. https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20201225.aspx https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20201225....
  - Alupis 6y ago
    Your hunch is in line with my hunch, mostly. I doubt it has to do with it being of Russian origin - but more-or-less the unknown level of maintenance the ship and it's reactor have had since the fall of the USSR. The reactors on these ships cannot be readily weaponized; there's practically no risk there. However, the reactors require a full crew to operate, even when just sitting in port being babysat (there is no "turning off" a rector). During the collapse of the USSR, regular maintenance and full crew staffing would have likely been challenging, putting the condition of the reactor in uncertain territory.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  Yes I thought many aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered?
  - GekkePrutser 6y ago
    All US ones are yes. Most of their subs too I believe.
    - ethbr0 6y ago
      All current US subs. The last diesel class was the 3x 1950s Barbels, decommissioned by 1990: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbel-class_submarine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbel-class_submarine
- tjoff 6y ago
  They do? Doesn't seem to exist many civil nuclear powered ships at all. And barely any non-US/Russian ships, at least still in service. From my quick searches at least. Large nuclear military ships likely have some port restrictions anyway.
  - Alupis 6y ago
    > Large nuclear military ships likely have some port restrictions anyway. The restrictions are more to do with the size of the ship, not it's propulsion mechanism. Routinely, US Submarines and Aircraft Carriers (all powered by nuclear reactors) sail into normal civilian ports around the world for various reasons.
    - mnw21cam 6y ago
      New Zealand is one country that refuses to allow nuclear-powered anything near.
      - Alupis 6y ago
        Seems this is no longer true[1]. [1] https://news.usni.org/2016/09/27/n-z-chief-navy-u-s-nuclear-ship-issue-behind-us-hopes-regular-usn-port-visits https://news.usni.org/2016/09/27/n-z-chief-navy-u-s-nuclear-...
- manfredo 6y ago
  Nuclear powered warships. As far as I know there was only one nuclear freighter, and it was more of a PR stunt. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah
  - p_l 6y ago
    Part of the problem was that NS Savannah was obsolete about the time it was introduced, combined with essentially requiring military crew to operate due to US law. So you introduce a very expensive to run freighter that requires complex cargo handling just as containers are starting to take the world. Not a good idea.
GekkePrutser 6y ago
And they sent a whole load of liquid metal reactors into orbit too. One crashed on Canada and the others are in disposal orbits and will come down in a very long time... All for a few months worth of radar.
- namibj 6y ago
  Maybe SpaceX sends a Starship to catch them and brings them to the moon or somewhere else where they won't be a problem.
nabla9 6y ago
Russia still operates multiple nuclear icebreakers. Some of them are brand new. As far as I know two Arktika-class ships are still in operation. Both Taymyr-class icebreakers still operate Then there are five new project 22220 vessels under construction or under order. Each of them has two reactors that produce. 175 MW total. Russia is planning to start building Project 10510 nuclear-powered icebreakers within 10 years.
- gambiting 6y ago
  Not to mention the floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" just got commissioned as well.

Alupis 6y ago

> However it's a bit tricky to actually ship anything with it as most countries don't allow it to enter their ports, let alone their water I'm curious, why is that? The US, and other nations, routinely sail nuclear powered ships into ports all around the world.

Fezzik 6y ago
My hunch is that most Western countries would be hesitant to allow anything that is nuclear + Russian on their shores. This article does not answer your question, but it sounds like as of 12/2020 the boat may be headed to the scrapyard due to needing costly repairs. https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20201225.aspx https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20201225....
- Alupis 6y ago
  Your hunch is in line with my hunch, mostly. I doubt it has to do with it being of Russian origin - but more-or-less the unknown level of maintenance the ship and it's reactor have had since the fall of the USSR. The reactors on these ships cannot be readily weaponized; there's practically no risk there. However, the reactors require a full crew to operate, even when just sitting in port being babysat (there is no "turning off" a rector). During the collapse of the USSR, regular maintenance and full crew staffing would have likely been challenging, putting the condition of the reactor in uncertain territory.
TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
Yes I thought many aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered?
- GekkePrutser 6y ago
  All US ones are yes. Most of their subs too I believe.
  - ethbr0 6y ago
    All current US subs. The last diesel class was the 3x 1950s Barbels, decommissioned by 1990: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbel-class_submarine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbel-class_submarine
tjoff 6y ago
They do? Doesn't seem to exist many civil nuclear powered ships at all. And barely any non-US/Russian ships, at least still in service. From my quick searches at least. Large nuclear military ships likely have some port restrictions anyway.
- Alupis 6y ago
  > Large nuclear military ships likely have some port restrictions anyway. The restrictions are more to do with the size of the ship, not it's propulsion mechanism. Routinely, US Submarines and Aircraft Carriers (all powered by nuclear reactors) sail into normal civilian ports around the world for various reasons.
  - mnw21cam 6y ago
    New Zealand is one country that refuses to allow nuclear-powered anything near.
    - Alupis 6y ago
      Seems this is no longer true[1]. [1] https://news.usni.org/2016/09/27/n-z-chief-navy-u-s-nuclear-ship-issue-behind-us-hopes-regular-usn-port-visits https://news.usni.org/2016/09/27/n-z-chief-navy-u-s-nuclear-...
manfredo 6y ago
Nuclear powered warships. As far as I know there was only one nuclear freighter, and it was more of a PR stunt. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah
- p_l 6y ago
  Part of the problem was that NS Savannah was obsolete about the time it was introduced, combined with essentially requiring military crew to operate due to US law. So you introduce a very expensive to run freighter that requires complex cargo handling just as containers are starting to take the world. Not a good idea.

GekkePrutser 6y ago

And they sent a whole load of liquid metal reactors into orbit too. One crashed on Canada and the others are in disposal orbits and will come down in a very long time... All for a few months worth of radar.

namibj 6y ago
Maybe SpaceX sends a Starship to catch them and brings them to the moon or somewhere else where they won't be a problem.

nabla9 6y ago

Russia still operates multiple nuclear icebreakers. Some of them are brand new. As far as I know two Arktika-class ships are still in operation. Both Taymyr-class icebreakers still operate Then there are five new project 22220 vessels under construction or under order. Each of them has two reactors that produce. 175 MW total. Russia is planning to start building Project 10510 nuclear-powered icebreakers within 10 years.

gambiting 6y ago
Not to mention the floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" just got commissioned as well.