Interesting, I hadn't heard of those. I know a few countries (including the US) tried nuclear-powered civilian ships and they were...not successes. The problem is the viable lifetime of a sea-going hull is very limited, perhaps 25-30 years at the outside.
Decommissioning nuclear ships is a BIG problem. Salt is a formidable enemy.
There are plans to convert the US attempt (NS Savannah) into a museum ship, but they can't even start on it yet because the hull is still, almost 50 years after the reactor was removed (1976) too radioactive.
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Interesting, I hadn't heard of those. I know a few countries (including the US) tried nuclear-powered civilian ships and they were...not successes. The problem is the viable lifetime of a sea-going hull is very limited, perhaps 25-30 years at the outside.
Decommissioning nuclear ships is a BIG problem. Salt is a formidable enemy.
There are plans to convert the US attempt (NS Savannah) into a museum ship, but they can't even start on it yet because the hull is still, almost 50 years after the reactor was removed (1976) too radioactive.
Hulls can last a lot longer than 30 years if the hull is maintained. If you keep steel painted, it can last a long time.