NS Savannah
NS Savannah is a nuclear-powered cargo ship operated by United States, powered by Babcock & Wilcox PWR of about 74 MWt. Retired.
A demonstration of peaceful nuclear propulsion under Atoms for Peace, and a technical success that made no commercial sense: it carried too little cargo and cost too much to crew. Decommissioned after eight years.
| Reactor | Babcock & Wilcox PWR |
|---|---|
| Reactors per vessel | 1 |
| Thermal output | 74MWt |
| Fuel enrichment | 4.2–4.6% U-235LEU |
| Refuelling | not disclosed |
| Category | cargo ship |
|---|---|
| Role | civil |
| Operator | United States |
| Country | United States |
| Vessels in class | 1 |
| In service from | 1962 |
| Status | Retired |
Other cargo ships
| Class | Enrichment | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mutsu | - | Retired |
| NS Sevmorput | - | Operating |
| Otto Hahn | - | Retired |
NS Savannah in context
It is one of 4 cargo ship programs on record, 1 of them operating and 3 retired, and one of 11 naval reactor programs from the same country.
Each of its reactors is rated about 74 MWt; across the 4 cargo ship programs with a stated rating the median is 55 MWt, and this one ranks 2nd.
It entered service in 1962, 64 years ago; the cargo ship programs on record entered service between 1962 and 1988, and this one is the earliest of 4.
| Measure | NS Savannah | Median of cargo ship programs | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal power per reactor (MWt) | 74 | 55 | 2 of 4 |
| Entered service | 1962 | 9840985 | 1 of 4 (earliest first) |
Worked out from the entries on this site only, so a figure compares NS Savannah with what is recorded here, not with everything that exists. An entry with no value for a measure is left out of that measure's ranking and median.
Sources
- World Nuclear Association, Nuclear-Powered Ships · retrieved 2026-09-07
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data