Symbol at Sea

Fresh and buoyant in a blue print dress and matching turban, Mamie Eisenhower took a few practice swings, baseball-style, then smashed a champagne bottle frothily on the looming bow, pronouncing the traditional formula: "I christen thee N.S. [for nuclear ship] Savannah.* Godspeed." After a second's hesitation, America's first nuclear-powered merchant vessel slid easily down the ways at Camden, N.J. and into the waters of the Delaware.

The white, yachtlike ship with its teardrop superstructure is largely President Eisenhower's dream boat. Following up his atoms-for-peace plan, he proposed in 1955 that an existing ship be equipped with an atomic power plant. Congress did him one better, the following year authorized an all-new nuclear vessel, turned the problem over to the Maritime Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission. The result is the $41 million, 22,000-ton Savannah, which, with its nuclear engine, will be capable of cruising without refueling for 350,000 miles over 3½ years.

Although it will carry 60 passengers and 10,000 tons of cargo, Savannah has no hopes of turning a profit, will fulfill its mission if it can lead the way to more efficient models and prove the safety and reliability of seagoing nuclear power. The power plant and 690 lbs. of enriched uranium--to be loaded next spring--will be shielded by a 33-in.-thick ring of water, a steel cylinder, then a 2,000-ton composite shield, and finally by a 24-in. redwood and steel collision mat. Dotted around the ship will be twelve monitors to gauge radiation on passengers and crew (probably no more than normal atmospheric radiation). Visitors to Savannah will be able to see her innards from a gallery around the plant and through closed-circuit TV.

And just in case all else fails, Savannah will be equipped with a small auxiliary diesel "take-home" engine.

* Named for an earlier Savannah, which was the first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic, sailed Savannah, Ga. to Liverpool in 1819 in 29 days.

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