  We consider general properties of charged circular cosmic strings in a
general family of world-sheet string models. We then specialize to a model
recently proposed by Carter and Peter. This model was shown to give a good
description of the features of the superconducting cosmic strings originally
discovered by Witten. We derive an explicit expression for the potential
determining the dynamics of the string and we present explicit expressions for
the string tension and energy density as a function of string-loop radius. We
also obtain explicit expressions for the wiggle and woggle speeds (speeds of
transverse and longitudinal perturbations, respectively). We show that the
contraction of the uniformly charged string is essentially governed by the
string tension (for large loop radius) and by a {\it finite} Coulomb barrier
(for small loop radius). We argue for the unobstructed contraction of a
uniformly charged loop over the Coulombic barrier and its eventual collapse to
a charged point. The implication of such an effect to the possible formation of
naked singularities, in violation of the cosmic censorship hypothesis, is
finally discussed.
