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Also known as IMO 5068526, MH-1A

MH-1A was the first floating nuclear power station. Named Sturgis after General Samuel D. Sturgis III, this pressurized water reactor built in a converted Liberty ship was part of a series of reactors in the US Army Nuclear Power Program, which aimed to develop small nuclear reactors to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessible sites. Its designation stood for mobile, high power. After its first criticality in 1967, MH-1A was towed to the Panama Canal Zone that it supplied with 10 MW of electricity. Its dismantling began in 2014 and was completed

Wikidata facts

Image
MH-1A.JPG
Speed
11.0
Show 4 more facts
end time
2018-00-00
Commons category
IMO 5068526
nominal power output
10
service entry
1967-00-00
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9 sections
Contents
  • Design
  • Construction
  • Panama Canal Zone, 1968–1976
  • End of life
  • Deactivation and mothballing at James River, 1976–1977
  • Decommissioning, dismantling and disposal, 2014–2019
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

MH-1A was the first floating nuclear power station. Named Sturgis after General Samuel D. Sturgis III, this pressurized water reactor built in a converted Liberty ship was part of a series of reactors in the US Army Nuclear Power Program, which aimed to develop small nuclear reactors to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessible sites. Its designation stood for mobile, high power. After its first criticality in 1967, MH-1A was towed to the Panama Canal Zone that it supplied with 10 MW of electricity. Its dismantling began in 2014 and was completed in March 2019.

==Design== thumb|MH-1A control room simulator at Fort Belvoir. The MH-1A was designed as a towed craft because it was expected to stay anchored for most of its life, making it uneconomical to keep the ship's own propulsion system.

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