Nuclear Ship Savannah

1.0 Site Identification

Type of Site:	Power Reactor Facility
Location:	Baltimore, MD
License No.:	NS-1
Docket No.:	50-238
License Status:	DECON
Project Manager:	Tanya Hood

2.0 Site Status Summary

The Nuclear Ship (NS) Savannah was removed from service in 1970 and is now berthed in Baltimore, MD.  All fuel was removed from the ship in October of 1971.  The ship's reactor pressure vessel was safely removed on November 8, 2022, and transported by rail to EnergySolutions' low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Clive, Utah.

The ship is a registered National Historic Landmark, the licensee is pursuing the DECON industrial work in a fashion that minimizes any physical affect to adjacent ship structure. The decommissioning work is performed by Nuclear Ship Support Services LLC, which is a joint venture of EnergySolutions and Radiation Safety and Control Services Inc. The NRC performed inspections of those activities.

The NS Savannah DECON and license termination project includes three phases. The first phase is planning and engineering. The second phase is industrial dismantlement which includes removing systems such as: the reactor pressure vessel, neutron shield tank, control rode drive system, heat exchangers, steam generators, primary system piping, pressurizer and more. The third and last phase is license termination.

United States Maritime Administration (MARAD), submitted an updated Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR), Revision 1, to the NRC on December 11, 2008. The scope of dismantlement described in the PSDAR is based on several fundamental assumptions, 1) the ship itself is not dismantled as part of DECON; 2) existing accesses are utilized to support dismantlement of systems and components; and 3) major structures will not be dismantled. These assumptions are based, in part, on National Historic Preservation Act requirements and satisfactory final status surveys (FSS).

The Licensee submitted a license termination plan (LTP) on October 23, 2023 (ML23298A041). The NRC staff accepted the plan and a related license amendment request (LAR) for formal review in a letter issued on December 15, 2023. The NRC published a notice of consideration of the proposed LAR and a finding of no significant hazards consideration determination in the Federal Register (FR) on March 29, 2024 (89 FR 22199). The notice offered a 30-day comment period and a 60-day period to request a hearing or to petition for leave to intervene. No comments, hearing requests or petitions for leave to intervene were received. The NRC issued Amendment 19 on January 30, 2025 approving the LTP.

This licensing action amends Possession Only License No. NS-1 for the NS Savannah to reflect approval of the NS Savannah LTP. Specifically, the amendment adds License Condition 2.C.(4), which incorporates the approved NS Savannah LTP, and associated addendum, and establishes the criteria for determining when changes to the LTP require prior NRC approval. The LTP is a supplement to the licensee’s other decommissioning documents and will be implemented by the licensee to complete decommissioning activities at the NS Savannah. Once decommissioning is complete, the licensee will need to submit a separate request to the NRC to terminate the NS Savannah license.

On May 8, 2024, the NRC held onboard the NS Savannah a public meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. An NRC summary of that public meeting was issued on June 7, 2024 and includes a summary of questions from the public and the NRC staff’s answers. No other public comments were received on the LTP. The licensee anticipates requesting license termination by December 2025, provided all prerequisite actions are complete at that time.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

None

4.0 Estimated Date For Closure

By Calendar year 2031