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Just three other nuclear merchant ships were built - the German oil transporter Otto Hahn; Japan's freighter Mutsu; and the Russian ice-breaking container vesse
by georgecmu 12y ago
Just three other nuclear merchant ships were built - the German oil transporter Otto Hahn; Japan's freighter Mutsu; and the Russian ice-breaking container vessel Sevmorput. Like the Savannah, they are no longer in service.
Umm, so the first nuclear ice-breaker was built by the Soviet Union in the 50s and was in service since 1959, 3 years before Savannah made its maiden voyage. Unlike Savannah, Lenin was in use for 30 years until it was decommissioned in 1989. Also in contrast to Savannah, its success led to 8 more Soviet nuclear ice-breakers built between 1975 and 1990. In fact, the most recent nuclear ice-breaker was built by Russia and entered service in 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_icebreaker http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_icebreaker
- sdm 12y agoThose nuclear ice-breakers are not merchant ships. Their primary purpose is not to carry containers or people.
- nickpinkston 12y agoBut the real point isn't to strictly define the benchmark, but more what it looks to elucidate: large scale nuclear ships and their outcomes. Russia (probably from not having to deal with protests as much as Western countries) made their nuclear ships and they perhaps proved to stand the test of time. (?)
- Moto7451 12y agoRussia has had a history of making a lot of interesting Nuclear powered things. I present to you the Nuclear powered lighthouse: http://englishrussia.com/2009/01/06/abandoned-russian-polar-nuclear-lighthouses/ http://englishrussia.com/2009/01/06/abandoned-russian-polar-...
- rsynnott 12y agoThey exist mostly to facilitate merchant ships, though.
- rsynnott 12y agoSevmorput is also only temporarily out of service, and should be back in 2016.