What might have happened if SS Leonardo da Vinci received a nuclear-power conversion?
Short answerHer final disposal would be handled much more cautiously, and Italy would gain infrastructure and experience useful for a future nuclear warship programme.
NotesLeonardo da Vinci was withdrawn from service for the final time in 1978 and later became a burned-out hulk after a fire lasting four days. The nuclear-conversion counterfactual changes the supervision of that retirement: a ship with a reactor aboard would be less likely to be left long enough for the same loss to occur. An Italian nuclear liner would also create infrastructure that a later nuclear-powered warship could share. That could reduce the barrier to a naval programme and increase pressure to pursue one.