 Launched on July 21st, 1959, the NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship, became a floating Goodwill ambassador for President Dwight Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program. For eight years it operated with an impressive safety record while delivering cargo and passengers to dozens of often crowded national and international ports. It traveled 450,000 miles, visited 45 foreign and 32 domestic ports, and received 1.4 million visitors on board. I'm Tom Wellock, the story for the NRC. The Savannah is the only NRC licensed reactor that has designated a national historic landmark by the U.S. government. It is preserved at Baltimore's Canton Marine Terminal under the care of volunteers and its owner, the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Periodically open to visitors, it is today one of the few places where the general public can tour a nuclear-powered facility. In 1954, the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered warship. Eisenhower wanted to match that feat with a nuclear peace ship. He feared Atoms for War would overshadow Atoms for Peace unless there were civilian applications on public display. Lewis Straws, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, from which the NRC was later formed, initially discouraged the idea as impractical and not economically competitive. Eisenhower's idealism prevailed. In a message to Congress, the administration said, the ship will be a moral force, which is not to be judged in terms of how few dollars it will cost or whether it is efficient. The President seeks no return on this vessel except the goodwill of men everywhere. This peace ship must prove that the United States stands for peace and peaceful uses of atomic energy. No moral force ever made itself felt without being seen. And so, the Savannah had to be freely accessible to public view, the administration said, consistent with protecting the health and safety of the public. The Savannah lived up to both those positive and negative expectations. Designed as a cargo and passenger ship with a public relations mission to boot, it wasn't commercially competitive, and cost considerations eventually led to its removal from service in 1971. Yet, while it operated, it was a popular attraction that fascinated the public. Easily one of the most majestic cargo ships ever built, its passenger cabins were usually booked to its maximum 60 guests. At crowded ports, visitors flocked aboard to tour the nuclear peace ship. Never again did the general public come in close, frequent proximity to an operating power reactor. Passengers toured the ship's propulsion spaces, slept in roomy cabins, socialized in a lavish lounge and by the pool, and enjoyed delicious dinners made in a spacious galley. The Savannah was one of a kind, the world's most mobile and accessible nuclear power plants. How did the United States keep the public safe from the world's most public reactor? The Savannah raised all kinds of questions for the AEC and the U.S. Maritime Administration, which oversaw the ship's operation. Where was the safest place to put the reactor on board? How do you protect the reactor from an iceberg or ship collision? How much training did the crew need? How do you protect the public in busy ports all over the world? And if there was an accident, who would compensate the victims and pay for property damage? In some ways, the principles of safety aboard the Savannah were no different than those applied to land-based nuclear power plants. Principles still in place today. First, ensure the reactor included inherent and redundant safety features, and then rely on what was soon called defense in depth, layers of physical barriers to the escape of radioactive coolant. A critical barrier was the reactor's sturdy containment vessel, and surrounding the vessel was a reactor compartment with backup filters and a ventilation system to remove particulates and vapors in case the containment vessel leaked. Once in operation, the AEC provided safety oversight similar to that given land-based nuclear power plants. Like commercial reactors, operator training was important to safety too. The AEC established a program at Lynchburg College, Virginia, where engineering officers received over 1200 hours of classroom instruction before moving on to field training at AEC land-based prototype reactors at national laboratories and later aboard the Savannah itself. The Savannah crew also received training on one of the earliest reactor simulators identical to the ship's reactor control panel. Other safety questions required balancing sometimes conflicting hazards. To protect the crew and passengers, locating the reactor near the bow far from their quarters might have seemed logical. But the risk to the reactor from collisions and the proper balancing of the ship's weight demanded the heavy reactor be located toward the center with substantial radiation shielding. Protecting the reactor from a ship collision also required other design modifications. On average, large ships worldwide were involved in seven collisions per year in the 1950s. A fact underscored when in 1956, the Andrea Doria sank near Nantucket, Massachusetts after colliding with another ship, killing 46 people on board. The Savannah design incorporated collision mats made of layers of steel and redwood beams surrounding the reactor. Safe entry to busy commercial ports also raised concerns. The nuclear powered Navy had already confronted this touchy subject. Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the US nuclear Navy, had worried that even a minor radiation incident involving a Navy ship in port could trigger a public backlash. AEC physicist Edward Teller agreed warning, the entire world is watching us in this field. And he recommended only absolutely necessary visits be permitted. But as a merchant, passenger and goodwill ship, routine port visits were the reason the Savannah existed at all. Technical procedural and liability issues needed to be addressed. The AEC and maritime administration took steps to ensure public safety, including improved auxiliary power and propulsion systems, dedicated tugboat escorts for an emergency evacuation, customized operating plans for each port visit, and reactors shut down requirements prior to allowing visitor boarding. In negotiations with the United Kingdom and other nations, the US government agreed to assume legal liability for any Savannah accidents. And legislation added the Savannah to existing nuclear power indemnity legislation. In 1971, the Savannah was deactivated and defueled. The Department of Transportation maintains the ship and protective storage. With NRC oversight and regular inspections, DOT provides an operation staff to perform maintenance of vital ship equipment, particularly electrical systems, fire and flooding alarms, and systems important to hull and containment integrity. They also monitor the ship's remaining radioactive areas and perform schedule hull and reactor compartment inspections. In keeping with its original mission, the ship is periodically open to visitors. The Savannah's great public popularity and safe operation eased acceptance of peaceful uses of nuclear power generally. And it demonstrated that civilian and military nuclear powered vessels could make safe, regular port visits. While commercial nuclear propulsion never became competitive, the Savannah added another chapter to the history of safe operation of nuclear power in the United States. Demonstrating that even novel uses of the peaceful atom could be done safely at home and abroad.