First Commercial Atomic-Powered Ship, Savannah, Is Launched
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events: 1900-2001
- Categories: Technology, Inventions, Economics
- Subcategories: Trade, Commerce, Ships, Naval History, Physics, Physicists, Engineering, Engineers, Nuclear Weapons, Power, Radiation
- Curriculum: American History 1951-present
- Geographical Location: New Jersey
- Date: July 21, 1959
Article abstract: Savannah, the world’s first atomic-powered merchant ship, was launched in 1959 and began service in 1962. Demonstrating a peaceful use of atomic power, it sailed until 1971.
Splitting the Atom
In 1938, Otto Hahn, working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry, discovered that bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons causes them to split into two smaller, lighter atoms. A large amount of energy is released during this process, which is called “fission.” When one kilogram of uranium is fissioned, it releases the same amount of...
[The entire page is 953 words long]
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