## 2 Nuclear-Powered Maritime Ships  
The first nuclear-powered ship, the _Savannah_, was commissioned in 1962 and decommissioned ten years later. It was primarily built as a research vessel--a laboratory for studying the design, operation, and maintenance of nuclear-powered ships--rather than for commercial profit. Its propulsion system was approximately twice as fast as that of a conventional ship, delivering a shaft-line power of 16 MW. The vessel was a mixed cargo/passenger ship, with a cargo capacity of 10,000 tons and accommodations for up to 60 passengers. The reactor was a light-water type, using low-enrichment uranium fuel (approximately 4.4% enrichment). Additionally, the ship featured dedicated onboard facilities for storing nuclear waste for at least 100 days [1]. The _Savannah_ was ultimately decommissioned in 1971 due to financial infeasibility: it incurred costs of USD 90 million while generating only USD 12 million in revenue [37]. The second ship was the _Otto Hahn_, manufactured and operated by Germany. It was commissioned in the mid-1960s, featuring a pressurized water reactor (PWR) as its propulsion system. The ship's operation as a nuclear-powered vessel ceased in 1979, when its owner converted it into a conventional ship. Before the conversion, the _Otto Hahn_ had traveled 650,000 nautical miles around the world and had used two reactor cores. The ship's high operational costs, coupled with regulatory challenges--such as many ports refusing to allow it to dock due to nuclear risks--ultimately led to its decommissioning. The third nuclear-powered ship was the _Mutsu_, which was manufactured by two different Japanese vendors. Mitsubishi (Tokai, Japan) provided the core, while the hull was designed by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). The ship utilized low-enriched uranium fuel (with an enrichment level of 3.24%) and was of the light-water reactor type. The _Mutsu_ was tested in 1974 in the open sea, far from Japan's shores, due to protests from anti-nuclear activists. During its first test, the ship experienced neutron leakage. Several repairs were made to ensure the ship's radiation safety, which delayed its commissioning until 1991. A year later, in 1992, the ship was decommissioned [1]. Overall, the story of the _Mutsu_ underscores management and financial errors, as two different companies were involved in its design, leading to interface complications. The development of the Soviet-designed nuclear-powered icebreaker _Lenin_ was primarily motivated by the desire to traverse Arctic routes [1]. It began operations in 1959,featuring a 90 MWth reactor core. This design was later upgraded to a 171 MWth core, which was installed in new icebreakers of the _Seymorput_ class, operational since 1988. The _Seymorput_ experienced several periods of service, although its entry into several Soviet ports was denied due to fears following the Chernobyl accident. Nuclear icebreakers continue to be used today for transporting cargo and passengers in Russia's northern regions across the Arctic. The historical use of nuclear power in maritime vessels demonstrates that their primary weakness lies in financial viability. In other words, the costs associated with technical and human support often exceed the revenue they generate. Naturally, the key challenge in adopting nuclear-powered maritime vessels is how to address this financial deficiency. Other challenges, such as technical and nonproliferation concerns, can be mitigated through engineering solutions, as evidenced by the successful deployment of nuclear submarines and icebreakers. However, AI has the potential to enhance the financial efficiency of these vessels by enabling optimal and more efficient operation. For instance, AI could reduce the need for highly paid onboard nuclear engineers--a major point of contention among crew members (and engineers) in the cases discussed in the previous section [1]. Beyond financial deficiency--an inherent challenge of nuclear maritime vessels--there are additional unique challenges.