Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #54
Hyman G. Rickover has often been referred to as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.” It is even engraved on his tombstone in Arlington Cemetery.
(Source: Flickr photo by Cliff)
USS Nautilus (Source: US Navy)Rickover earned this label by overseeing the design, development, and deployment of warships propelled by nuclear reactorshe USS Nautilus was commissioned in September 1954 as the world’s first nuclear powered submarine and put to sea for the first time in January 1955.
Rickover earned this label by overseeing the design, development, and deployment of warships propelled by nuclear reactors.
The USS Nautilus was commissioned in September 1954 as the world’s first nuclear powered submarine and put to sea for the first time in January 1955.
The USS Enterprise was commissioner in November 1960 as the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier and made her maiden voyage in January 1962.
USS Enterprise (Source: U.S. Navy)
Under Rickover’s command, nearly 200 nuclear powered submarines and surface ships joined the US Navy.
Similarly, I am the “Elder of the US Nuclear Power Plants.” It’s not that I’m bragging or boasting. It’s simply the truth.
The Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Oak Harbor, Ohio was named after me.
David Bessie (Source: NRC)
Shearon Harris (Source: NRC)
The Shearon Harris nuclear plant near New Hill, North Carolina was also named after me. Even the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant near Avila Beach, California was named after me.
Diablo Canyon (Source: NRC)
In fact, all 99 of the nuclear power reactors currently operating in the United States from sea to shining sea were named after me.
It’s quite an honor, to be sure. And it just keeps getting better. All of the nuclear power reactors currently under construction in the U.S. are named after me.
Bottom Line
What did I do to become the “Elder of the US Nuclear Power Plants?”
I was born and named before these reactors were named.
Ironically, I was named after Hyman Rickover, and Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill, and Amelia Earhardt, and Roberto Clemente, and my mother, and Scottish open-wheel racing champion Jim Clark, and everyone (and everything) named before me.
By the way, who was the Mother of the Nuclear Navy?
The UCS Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit (NEAT) is a series of post intended to help citizens understand nuclear technology and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s processes for overseeing nuclear plant safety.