Cargo Submarines...

[Abbott Shaull]

No you're not. All you say is perfectly right.

No you are pointing out things that some of us took that people would/should of took into account without having to point them out.

Even if someone hasn't thought of these points, someone has to give them a dose of reality.

Sometimes it nice to see someone trying to think outside of the box and run with it....

[mikeo80]

This brings up some interesting questions, such as how the running costs of a nuclear submarine might compare to a cargo vessel with similar capacity. I suspect that they are very expensive to run, but I'm not certain. Mainly because there are not any nuclear powered civilian cargo ships in operation to compare it to. Fuel oil must be a major expense in the running of a cargo vesel, so I wonder how much more or less expensive it is on a per nautical mile travelled basis to run a nuclear powered cargo vesel (submarine).

Something to ponder.

There was one American nuclear civilian cargo vesel. The N.S. Savannah. In service 1962 - 1972. Considered to be a HUGE waste of money.

[kato13]

There was one American nuclear civilian cargo vesel. The N.S. Savannah. In service 1962 - 1972. Considered to be a HUGE waste of money.

Since i Googled it here you go

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah

[StainlessSteelCynic]

This brings up some interesting questions, such as how the running costs of a nuclear submarine might compare to a cargo vessel with similar capacity. I suspect that they are very expensive to run, but I'm not certain. Mainly because there are not any nuclear powered civilian cargo ships in operation to compare it to. Fuel oil must be a major expense in the running of a cargo vesel, so I wonder how much more or less expensive it is on a per nautical mile travelled basis to run a nuclear powered cargo vesel (submarine).

Something to ponder.

There are a few examples of civilian nuclear powered ships but the list is tiny and ther majority of that list are Russian icebreakers. Still, if someone wants to follow it up, here are some links that could help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Savannah arguably the most famous because it was the first nuclear powered cargo ship but the article is important because it has a brief section on the economics of the Savannah's poor design & the other aspects of operating with a nuclear plant. However, this ship more than any other that I can think of would be damned interesting for a Twilight game.

http://www.atomicengines.com/Ship_paper.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_nuclear_ships

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/13292 in answer to "Why don't civilian commercial ships and cruise ships use nuclear power"

http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/russia/naval/civilian/icebrkrs.htm

http://www.coal2nuclear.com/nuclear_ships.htm

http://www.handyshippingguide.com/sh...iner-ships_992 China considers nuclear cargo vessels
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruis...=61483036.blog nuclear power for cruise ships proposed

sorry, I seem to have wandered away from the thread again...

[Abbott Shaull]

NS Savannah suffered from poor designed period. If you read the article it had 100 Staterooms. This was done more for show than as true Cargo ship.

From what I have read in several of the articles the reason why there aren't more Nuclear power vessels is due to several factor that pertain to the cost of the power plants, the training of the crew to maintain and operated these vessels, the refueling requirements, and the fact that the power plants would probably have to be replace much sooner than the life until major refit than other vessel. This argument could be used at the turn of the past century when many vessel stilled used coal as their operating fuel.

There are security concerns that would add to cost to running the ship. In my mind these measure should already be in place, but shipping companies and their insurance companies find it easier to pay pirate ransoms, which to me is insane.

To me it only a matter of time. Many cargo that is shipped on the sea lanes is either liquid bulk, container, or specialized RO-RO shipping. I live on the Great Lakes near one of the choke points for shipping on the Great Lakes. It has dropped significantly in the 9 years I have lived hear, even though it did pick up a bit this year. Form what I have heard it has dropped off drastically what it was like in the 1980s and before.

The Russia/former Soviet Union has operated many some Nuclear power Icebreakers. Then again they had still maintain a large diesel fleet of Submarines too for some of the same reason mention above, and the fact that the diesel sub operating on battery power is totally silent as oppose to the nuclear one which has to run cooling pumps all of the time.

The US EPA has set up rules that they have since suspended that would of eliminated many of the ship that work their trade on the Great Lakes. They are looking at doing the same to ship traffic coming to and from the US. As well as many other nations wish to limit the pollution.

For the most part sometime in the future you will see the change, I will not hazard a guess when, and not a question of if. It will probably happen, unless they come up with technology that will make it cheaper on fossil fuel in running these type of cargo moving vessels. Especially if we continue to live in a global economy.