Mutsu (ship)
Encyclopedia
Mutsu was Japan's first, and only nuclear-powered
ship. It was built as a nuclear merchant ship, one of four such vessels ever constructed, but never carried commercial cargo.
As the crew brought the reactor up to 1.4% of capacity at 5pm on 1 September 1974, there was a minor leak of neutrons and gamma rays from the reactor shielding. Westinghouse had reviewed the design and warned of this possibility, but no changes were made to the design. There was no significant radiation exposure, but it became a political issue, with local fisherman blocking her return to port for over fifty days. The government finally came to an agreement with the local government and fishermen for Mutsu to be allowed back to port on condition that it found a new home port, and the ship returned to Ohminato on 15 October.
In Sasebo, between 1978 and 1982, various modifications were made to the reactor shield of the Mutsu, and its home port was moved to Sekinehama in 1983. Following an overhaul, the Mutsu was completed in February 1991. She then completed her original design objective of travelling 82000 kilometres (50,952.6 mi) in testing, and was decommissioned in 1992. Over 25 years, the programme had cost more than 120 billion yen (~US$1.2bn).
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Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
ship. It was built as a nuclear merchant ship, one of four such vessels ever constructed, but never carried commercial cargo.
Nuclear propulsion tests
The reactor was completed on 25 August 1972, and fuel was loaded on 4 September. When officials announced that the first test run was to be run at the pier in Ohminato, local protests forced them to reconsider. Eventually it was decided to test the ship in the open ocean, 800 kilometres (497.1 mi) east of Cape Shiriya. The ship departed Ohminato on 26 August 1974, and the reactor attained criticality on 28 August.As the crew brought the reactor up to 1.4% of capacity at 5pm on 1 September 1974, there was a minor leak of neutrons and gamma rays from the reactor shielding. Westinghouse had reviewed the design and warned of this possibility, but no changes were made to the design. There was no significant radiation exposure, but it became a political issue, with local fisherman blocking her return to port for over fifty days. The government finally came to an agreement with the local government and fishermen for Mutsu to be allowed back to port on condition that it found a new home port, and the ship returned to Ohminato on 15 October.
In Sasebo, between 1978 and 1982, various modifications were made to the reactor shield of the Mutsu, and its home port was moved to Sekinehama in 1983. Following an overhaul, the Mutsu was completed in February 1991. She then completed her original design objective of travelling 82000 kilometres (50,952.6 mi) in testing, and was decommissioned in 1992. Over 25 years, the programme had cost more than 120 billion yen (~US$1.2bn).
RV Mirai
The reactor was removed in 1995. After decontamination, the Mutsu was rebuilt as the ocean observation vessel MiraiRV Mirai
RV Mirai a is Japanese oceanographic research vessel.She was commissioned following the rebuild of the Mutsu, a nuclear-powered vessel....
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See also
- NS Otto HahnOtto Hahn (ship)Otto Hahn was one of only four nuclear-powered cargo vessels so far built. Planning of a German-built trade and research vessel to test the feasibility of nuclear power in civil service began in 1960, and Otto Hahns keel was laid down in 1963 by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG of Kiel...
(Germany) - NS SavannahNS SavannahNS Savannah, named for SS Savannah, was the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million, including a $28.3 million nuclear reactor and fuel core, funded by United States government agencies as a demonstration project for the potential...
(USA) - NS SevmorputSevmorputSevmorput is a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaking LASH carrier and container ship. Delivered in 1988 and named after the Northern Sea Route , she is the last of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built and the only one still operating on nuclear power.- Development and construction :The...
(Russia)