HERE'S AN IDEA

          News of progress with molten salt reactors (MSR’s) frequently appears in industrial journals, in news clips on the internet, as well as in other media that are concerned with energy in all its aspects. Interest in development of thorium reactors is worldwide, mainly because they promise better safety than uranium reactors, and because thorium is far more plentiful than uranium. Reactors would be more economical to build and operate. According to the World Nuclear Association, five nuclear energy companies in Canada and the United States are developing molten salt reactors: Terrestrial Energy (Canada), Thorcon Power (Florida), Terrapower (Washington), Flibe Energy (Alabama), and Transatomic Power (Massachusetts).

           The idea is this: The nuclear powered merchant ship Savannah, now inactive, docked at Pier 13 in Baltimore, MD. What better place to showcase a MSR, producing an ability to demonstrate the technology worldwide?

            Research and development will eventually result in a demonstrator reactor, typically in a building on the back lot of development laboratory. More spectacular and appealing would be a real application that would rapidly gain public appeal and support. The Savannah offers a way to do this.
            The Merchant ship Savannah had its origin in 1955 in President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program. The ship was designed by NY architect George C. Sharp Inc. Construction was funded by Government agencies; The Maritime Administration (MARAD), The Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Commerce. It was launched in 1959 and was then fitted with a nuclear power plant by Babcock & Wilcox Corporation.

           The ship carried passengers and cargo between 1962 and 1965, then later only cargo until it was decommissioned in 1971. It had sailed a total of 450,000 miles. The reactor fuel was removed but the reactor remains in place. The Savannah was subsequently towed from port to port for exhibition and maintenance. Finally in 2008 it was towed to pier 13 in Baltimore, where it awaits an unknown future in dry dock.

                Savannah rests in drydock in Baltimore, MD

           Will it be just another maritime museum or will it have a new life, powered by a MSR?

           The fifty thousand or so world merchant fleet represents a fertile area for gains in cimate change abatement. Ships are heavy fuel consumers and in the aggregate, substantial contributers of carbon dioxide emissions. Merchant ships consume from 140 to 150 tons of fuel for a seven day excursion. Taking the lower number, every day, per thousand ships at sea, total carbon dioxide emission is calculated to be over 60,000 tons (a hundred and twenty million pounds). Thus, conversion of the merchant fleet to nuclear power could contribute measurably toward abatement of global warming.

          President Eisenhower could as well have had a vision for use of atomic power for abatement of global warming, but in those times there was only an awareness of pollution, which appeared to be regional. The Keeling curve, which warned of rising carbon dioxide concentration and ensiung climate studies that confirm an onset of global warming, were still in the future. 
          Savannah operating on Thorium……..could be as world-shaking as Watts' improvement on the steam engine.