207- 
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“~— 
F loating structures geal an eo 
A number of designs-have~also-been suggested for. floating struc- 
Wee: These include: (4) Submersible stations; @)“ship~hulls; BF 
arges. Ji 
(i) Submersible stations.—This concept, is:presently under investi- 
gation by the Quincy Division of General Dynamics “under the 
auspices of the Department of the Interior(19). As described in a 
proposal by R. W. Marble(20), this scheme consists of a grouping of 
cylindrical containers enclosing the reactor, steam, and electrical sys- 
tems, positioned at sea and tethered to the bottom by a multipoint 
mooring. The position of the station with respect to the ocean surface 
would be controlled by ballasting in much the same way as on a 
present-day submarine. The best-position for the station with respect 
to the surface must be ascertained—at least 100 feet over the main 
hull section probably would be desirable. In shallow water this might 
demand bottom siting. A personnel transfer system would be provided 
by a long access trunk and elevator to a light heliport structure above 
sea level. 
(2) Ship hulls—The U.S. Army presently operates the Sturgis 
craft(21), a floating nuclear power station utilizing a small pressurized 
water reactor (PWR) in a conventional ship hull. For the much larger 
plant sizes necessary for commercial power generation, this shape 
would not be suitable because of excessive stability problems and the 
difficulties in designing suitable mooring, although the good towing 
characteristics would provide excellent mobility for smaller size plants. 
Experience with such reactors aboard a number of naval vessels, in- 
cluding the NS Savannah(22) and the Otto Hahn(23), have indicated 
that “there are no inherent-reasons why reactors should not be 
installed on floating platforms—at least not for pressurized-water 
reactors. Some concern has been expressed in the past: about the per- 
formance of boiling water reactors on ships * * * under conditions 
of roll, pitch, and heave. Several studies, plus the performance of the 
Otto Hahn, suggest that this is not a serious problem(24).”- . 
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