Nuclear-Powered Giant Ships

Discussions focus on the pros and cons of nuclear propulsion for massive cargo and naval ships, efficiency of large versus smaller vessels, alternatives like sails, and challenges such as cost, build time, and existing fleets.

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Keywords

technologyreview.com WW2 NOT thedrive.com ROI ships ship vessels cruise nuclear container cargo naval powered build

Sample Comments

SkyPuncher Mar 29, 2024 View on HN

My impression is energy density matters significantly less with these giant ships.

asdff Aug 23, 2022 View on HN

These huge ships should be nuclear powered like navy ships.

ksm1717 Mar 26, 2021 View on HN

Why not just make a smaller ship

TradingPlaces Dec 29, 2023 View on HN

Nukes are expensive and take forever to build. This ship sailed 40 years ago.

katbyte Mar 26, 2023 View on HN

only bigger by number of ships. By tonnage i think its less then half the size.

throwawaymaths Feb 27, 2025 View on HN

sails on modern cargo ships is a thing (see pyxis ocean)

cmpxchg8b Nov 3, 2023 View on HN

Warships need electricity too..

qanael May 7, 2015 View on HN

If I'm not mistaken, those ships are more efficient per unit of cargo than smaller ships. It's one of the main reasons they were built.

nexuist Feb 9, 2020 View on HN

Why can't we just use the existing hulls to build more ships?

dylan604 Dec 26, 2024 View on HN

The oceans are big, so why limit it to one ship. Have a fleet of ships where each ship serves different purposes. Navies have been doing this for most of naval history.