Page 273 - Beyond Decommissioning

254 Beyond Decommissioning

The ship was defueled soon after and her reactor made irreversibly inoperable in
1975–76. The reactor remains in place. The radioactive primary coolant loop water
was removed shortly after final shutdown, as were some radioactive components
within the reactor system. According to various estimates, residual radioactivity in
1976 ranged between 6200 and 2200 TBq, mostly the short-lived 55Fe and 60Co.
By 2005, the remaining radioactivity was estimated some 180 TBq. These radioactive
substances are located in a few, well-monitored places. About 95% of the power plant
is intact and remains onboard ship. Savannah is still licensed by the Nuclear Regula-
tory Commission (NRC is the successor to the AEC), and will remain so until nuclear
decommissioning is completed.
Savannah was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. She was
named a Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) in 1983. She was named a Nuclear Engineering Landmark by the
American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 1991. And finally declared a National Historic
Landmark by the US National Park Service in 1991.
Savannah is currently lay-berthed in the Port of Baltimore, MD. The US Maritime
Administration (MARAD) manages the activities onboard the ship, with a focus on
licensed operations and predecommissioning planning. MARAD intends to maintain
Savannah under safe enclosure for a few more years; however, under current NRC
regulations the decommissioning process must be completed and Savannah’s license
terminated by 2031 (60 years after final shutdown). Normally the NRC regulations
would entail full dismantling of the reactor. However, the historic ship community
would like to see an exception made in this case to allow for preservation of
Savannah’s reactor.
Although not open to visitors on a regular schedule, the Savannah Technical Staff
schedule periodic tours provided that these can be managed without interfering with
normal ship’s management. While MARAD aims at converting Savannah into a
museum, financial supporters of this option have not shown up yet.

6.7.1.3 Otto Hahn nuclear ship, Germany (Brenk, 2010)
The cargo vessel “Otto Hahn” was the only nuclear-powered ship built in Ger-
many. The ship was launched in 1964, but the nuclear propulsion system was
installed only in 1968. Otto Hahn was run as a research vessel until 1979, gathering
useful information about nuclear propulsion while being also used as a commercial
ore carrier. One the main factor for terminating nuclear operation was that foreign
harbors and major shipping routes such as Suez and Panama Canal were not readily
available or open for nuclear vessels. The nuclear propulsion of the ship was shut
down in 1979 and the removed nuclear parts were stored at the research Center
Geesthacht.
The ship was fully decontaminated and converted into a container carrier with con-
ventional Diesel propulsion in 1982. Since then, she changed names many times until
she was eventually scrapped in 2009.