A nuclear cruiser escort for every US carrier

How useful would one nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser for each US nuclear carrier be?

Very useful: it could keep pace during long high-speed deployments, preserve escort coverage, and provide power for demanding future systems.

A nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser could stay with a nuclear carrier during a sustained high-speed move between theatres. Conventionally powered escorts must eventually refuel, and underway replenishment can force the carrier to slow or continue temporarily without them. Even one escort that remains on station materially improves the carrier’s survival compared with an unescorted transit. Nuclear generation would also support power-hungry sensors, railguns, or directed-energy systems whose limiting factor is often electrical supply and energy storage. Reactor cost and volume would push the escort toward cruiser size, but that larger hull is part of what makes the investment worthwhile.