Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
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[citation needed]. 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.
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.
It contained a single-loop pressurized water reactor, in a 350-ton containment vessel, using low enriched uranium (4% to 7% 235U) as fuel.
The MH-1A had an elaborate analog-computer-powered simulator installed at Fort Belvoir. The MH-1A simulator was obtained by Memphis State University Center for Nuclear Studies in the early 1980s, but was never restored or returned to operational service. Its fate is unknown after the Center for Nuclear Studies closed.
The reactor was built for the U.S. Army by Martin Marietta under a $17,200,000 contract (August 1961), with construction starting in 1963. The reactor was built in Sturgis, a converted Liberty ship formerly known as SS Charles H. Cugle.
Sturgis (named after General Samuel D. Sturgis Jr.) was hull number 3145, and not as sometimes supposed SS William Sturgis, another liberty ship (hull number 800, scrapped in 1969).
Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was the headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers and, beginning in 1954, the corps' newly created Army Reactors Branch. This unit was established by the Department of Defense to develop compact nuclear power plants that could be utilized to supply heat and power at remote locations. The army's first nuclear power reactor, the SM-1, was built at Fort Belvoir in 1955–57 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). It was located in the southeast "corner" of the post, alongside Gunston Cove, off the Potomac River. The SM-1 reactor, also known as the Army Package Reactor Program, was used to train nuclear operations personnel for all three services. For that reason, the MH-1A was installed and tested aboard the Sturgis while it was moored in Gunston Cove, near the SM-1 facility.
Dredging a channel between the main course of the Potomac River and the shoreline of Gunston Cove began on 30 November 1964. At the same time, construction of an access road, power lines and the pier began, just below the SM-1 reactor facility. The Sturgis arrived at the new Gunston Cove pier on 22 April 1966, having been towed from Mobile, Alabama. The MH-1A reactor first went critical on 24 January 1967 and was formally "accepted" by the Army on 25 July 1967. The Sturgis remained at the pier for another 11 months, supplying power to Fort Belvoir, while the Corps of Engineers sought a suitable permanent site. In spring 1968, the US State Department entered into negotiations with the Panama Canal Company, and the Sturgis was towed out of Gunston Cove in late July 1968, arriving Gatun Lake on 7 August.
Hub AI
MH-1A AI simulator
(@MH-1A_simulator)
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[citation needed]. 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.
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.
It contained a single-loop pressurized water reactor, in a 350-ton containment vessel, using low enriched uranium (4% to 7% 235U) as fuel.
The MH-1A had an elaborate analog-computer-powered simulator installed at Fort Belvoir. The MH-1A simulator was obtained by Memphis State University Center for Nuclear Studies in the early 1980s, but was never restored or returned to operational service. Its fate is unknown after the Center for Nuclear Studies closed.
The reactor was built for the U.S. Army by Martin Marietta under a $17,200,000 contract (August 1961), with construction starting in 1963. The reactor was built in Sturgis, a converted Liberty ship formerly known as SS Charles H. Cugle.
Sturgis (named after General Samuel D. Sturgis Jr.) was hull number 3145, and not as sometimes supposed SS William Sturgis, another liberty ship (hull number 800, scrapped in 1969).
Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was the headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers and, beginning in 1954, the corps' newly created Army Reactors Branch. This unit was established by the Department of Defense to develop compact nuclear power plants that could be utilized to supply heat and power at remote locations. The army's first nuclear power reactor, the SM-1, was built at Fort Belvoir in 1955–57 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). It was located in the southeast "corner" of the post, alongside Gunston Cove, off the Potomac River. The SM-1 reactor, also known as the Army Package Reactor Program, was used to train nuclear operations personnel for all three services. For that reason, the MH-1A was installed and tested aboard the Sturgis while it was moored in Gunston Cove, near the SM-1 facility.
Dredging a channel between the main course of the Potomac River and the shoreline of Gunston Cove began on 30 November 1964. At the same time, construction of an access road, power lines and the pier began, just below the SM-1 reactor facility. The Sturgis arrived at the new Gunston Cove pier on 22 April 1966, having been towed from Mobile, Alabama. The MH-1A reactor first went critical on 24 January 1967 and was formally "accepted" by the Army on 25 July 1967. The Sturgis remained at the pier for another 11 months, supplying power to Fort Belvoir, while the Corps of Engineers sought a suitable permanent site. In spring 1968, the US State Department entered into negotiations with the Panama Canal Company, and the Sturgis was towed out of Gunston Cove in late July 1968, arriving Gatun Lake on 7 August.