Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn is a nuclear-powered cargo ship operated by West Germany, powered by Integral PWR of about 36 MWt. Retired.
Sailed 650,000 nautical miles on 126 voyages over ten years without a technical problem, and was converted to diesel in 1982 purely on cost. The most successful civil nuclear ship by operating record, and still not economic.
| Reactor | Integral PWR |
|---|---|
| Reactors per vessel | 1 |
| Thermal output | 36MWt |
| Fuel enrichment | not disclosed |
| Refuelling | not disclosed |
| Category | cargo ship |
|---|---|
| Role | civil |
| Operator | West Germany |
| Country | Germany |
| Vessels in class | 1 |
| In service from | 1968 |
| Status | Retired |
Other cargo ships
| Class | Enrichment | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mutsu | - | Retired |
| NS Savannah | LEU | Retired |
| NS Sevmorput | - | Operating |
Otto Hahn in context
It is one of 4 cargo ship programs on record, 1 of them operating and 3 retired.
Each of its reactors is rated about 36 MWt; across the 4 cargo ship programs with a stated rating the median is 55 MWt, and this one ranks 3rd.
It entered service in 1968, 58 years ago; the cargo ship programs on record entered service between 1962 and 1988, and this one is the 2nd earliest of 4.
| Measure | Otto Hahn | Median of cargo ship programs | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal power per reactor (MWt) | 36 | 55 | 3 of 4 |
| Entered service | 1968 | 9840985 | 2 of 4 (earliest first) |
Worked out from the entries on this site only, so a figure compares Otto Hahn 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