alternatehistory.com

I was rereading Red Mars, and they mention that the Martian expedition is given a Rickover reactor. Interested, I looked it up - apparently Admiral Hyman Rickover is the longest serving officer in US Navy history (63 years), and is considered by most to be single-handedly responsibly for the current state of the US nuclear navy.

Now, I am not a naval history buff, but I'm sure we have some here, and I was wondering how people thought the US Navy would evolve without Rickover. Would there still be nuclear surface ships? (Submarines seem too fitting for nuclear reactors to not have them). Would the safety record be the same? Apparently Rickover was big on safety. He apparently had a hand in development of civilian nuclear power in the US, which could also be critical - 20% of US power is nuclear.
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