Nuclear navy

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A nuclear navy, or nuclear-powered navy, refers to the portion of a navy consisting of naval ships powered by nuclear marine propulsion. The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed. Prior to nuclear power, submarines were powered by diesel engines and could only submerge through the use of batteries. In order for these submarines to run their diesel engines and charge their batteries they would have to surface or snorkel. The use of nuclear power allowed these submarines to become true submersibles and unlike their conventional counterparts, they became limited only by crew endurance and supplies.

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Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers

Currently, only the United States and France possess nuclear-powered aircraft-carriers. [1]

The United States Navy has by far the most nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, with ten Nimitz-class carriers and one Gerald R. Ford-class carrier in service. The last conventionally-powered aircraft carrier left the U.S. fleet as of 12 May 2009, when the USS Kitty Hawk was deactivated. France's latest aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is nuclear-powered. [2] The United Kingdom rejected nuclear power early in the development of its Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers on cost grounds, as even several decades of fuel use costs less than a nuclear reactor. [3] Since 1949 the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been one of the lead laboratories in the development of the nuclear navy. The planned indigenous Chinese carriers also feature nuclear propulsion. [4]

Nuclear-powered submarines

The United States Navy operates the largest fleet of nuclear submarines. [5] Only the United States Navy, the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, and France's Marine Nationale field an all-nuclear submarine force. By 1989, there were over 400 nuclear-powered submarines operational or being built. [6] Some 250 of these submarines have now been scrapped and some on order cancelled, due to weapons reduction programs. Russia and the United States had over one hundred each, with the United Kingdom and France fewer than twenty each and China six. The Indian Navy launched their first indigenous Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarines on 26 July 2009. [7] India is also operating one nuclear attack submarine with talks of leasing one more nuclear submarine from Russia. India plans to build six nuclear attack submarines and follow on to the Arihant class of ballistic missile submarines. [8]

Nuclear-powered cruisers

The US had several nuclear cruisers. The cruisers were the USS Bainbridge, USS California, USS Long Beach, USS Truxtun, USS South Carolina, USS Virginia, USS Texas, USS Mississippi, and USS Arkansas. The Long Beach was deemed too expensive and was decommissioned in 1995 instead of receiving its third nuclear refueling and proposed upgrade. It was sold for scrap in 2012 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Currently the United States does not have any nuclear cruisers.[ citation needed ]

Russia has four Kirov-class battlecruisers, though only one is active, the other three being laid up. The command ship SSV-33 Ural, based on the Kirov class, is also laid up. Seven civilian nuclear icebreakers remain in service: four of six Arktika-class icebreakers, the two Taymyr-class icebreakers Taymyr and Vaygach , and the LASH carrier and container ship Sevmorput.[ citation needed ]

United States Navy

By 2003 the U.S. Navy had accumulated over 5,400 "reactor years" of accident-free experience, and operated more than 80 nuclear-powered ships. [9]

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, (1900–1986), of the United States Navy, known as "father of the nuclear navy" [10] [11] [12] was an electrical engineer by training, and was the primary architect who implemented this daring concept, and believed that it was the natural next phase for the way military vessels could be propelled and powered. The challenge was to reduce the size of a nuclear reactor to fit on board a ship or submarine, as well as to encase it sufficiently so that radiation hazards would not be a safety concern.[ citation needed ]

Soon after World War II, Rickover was assigned to the Bureau of Ships in September 1947 and received training in nuclear power at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In February 1949 he received an assignment to the Division of Reactor Development, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and then assumed control of the United States Navy's effort as Director of the Naval Reactors Branch in the Bureau of Ships. This dual role allowed him to lead the efforts to develop the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, which was launched in 1954. As Vice Admiral, from 1958, for three decades Rickover exercised tight control over the ships, technology, and personnel of the nuclear navy, even interviewing every prospective officer for new nuclear-powered navy vessels.[ citation needed ]

Philip Abelson

Leading nuclear physicist Philip Abelson (1913–2004) turned his attention under the guidance of Ross Gunn to applying nuclear power to naval propulsion. Their early efforts at Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) provided an early glimpse at what was to become the nuclear Navy.[ citation needed ]

United States Naval reactors

At the present time, many important vessels in the United States Navy are powered by nuclear reactors. All submarines and aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered. Several cruisers were nuclear-powered but these have all been retired. [13]

United States naval reactors are given three-character designations consisting of a letter representing the ship type the reactor is designed for, a consecutive generation number, and a letter indicating the reactor's designer. The ship types are "A" for aircraft carrier, "C" for cruiser, "D" for destroyer, and "S" for submarine. The designers are "W" for Westinghouse, "G" for General Electric, "C" for Combustion Engineering, and "B" for Bechtel. Examples are S5W, D1G, A4W, and D2W.[ citation needed ]

Information concerning United States naval reactors may or may not be classified (see Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information).[ citation needed ]

Accidents involving naval nuclear-powered vessels

United States

[ citation needed ]

Both sank for reasons unrelated to their reactor plants and still lie on the Atlantic sea floor.

Russian or Soviet

[ citation needed ]

While not all of these were reactor accidents, they have a major impact on nuclear marine propulsion and the global politics because they happened to nuclear vessels. Only four Soviet nuclear submarines accidentally sank with nuclear weapons on board and remain on the sea floor to this day. [14]

Operator Timeline

Country1st PWR fabricated1st PWR acquired1st vesselCommissionedNotes
United States 1953- USS Nautilus (SSN-571) 1955World's first nuclear submarine / vessel
USSR 1958- K-3 Leninsky Komsomol 1958
United Kingdom 19651962 HMS Dreadnought (S101) 1963HMS Dreadnought utilised an imported US S5W reactor, with HMS Valiant (S102) carrying the first UK built Rolls-Royce PWR, in 1966.
Germany 1968- Otto Hahn (ship) 1968Commercial ship, scrapped in 2009
France 1970- Redoutable (S611) 1971
Japan 1970- Mutsu (nuclear ship) 1972Decommissioned 1992
China 1973- Han (S401) 1974
Russia 19921992K-419 Kuzbass1992The Russian navy inherited approximately 250 nuclear powered vessels from the Soviet navy, in January 1992.
India 20161988 INS Chakra 1998 Soviet submarine K-43, leased in 1988, and Russian submarine Nerpa (K-152), leased in 2012, have both carried the INS Chakra name. INS Arihant is India's first indigenously constructed nuclear submarine, commissioned in 2016.
Brazil 2018- Brazilian submarine Álvaro Alberto exp. 2029Currently under construction the SN-10 Álvaro Alberto is to be the first nuclear vessel of the Brazilian navy, its reactor, the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor, was launched in 2018 [15] and is currently under trials, the hull will be an expanded version of the Scorpène-class submarine.

See also

Related Research Articles

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States naval reactors</span> Classes of nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy

United States naval reactors are nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy aboard certain ships to generate the steam used to produce power for propulsion, electric power, catapulting airplanes in aircraft carriers, and a few minor uses. Such naval nuclear reactors have a complete power plant associated with them. All commissioned U.S. Navy submarines and supercarriers built since 1975 are nuclear powered, with the last conventional carrier, USS Kitty Hawk, being decommissioned in May 2009. The U.S. Navy also had nine nuclear-powered cruisers with such reactors, but they have since been decommissioned also.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyman G. Rickover</span> US Navy admiral

Hyman G. Rickover was an admiral in the United States Navy. He directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors office. In addition, he oversaw the development of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor used for generating electricity. Rickover is also one of four people who have been awarded two Congressional Gold Medals.

USS <i>Thresher</i> (SSN-593) United States Navy submarine (1961–63)

USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States Navy. She was the U.S. Navy's second submarine to be named after the thresher shark.

USS <i>Long Beach</i> (CGN-9) Long Beach-class missile cruiser

USS Long Beach (CLGN-160/CGN-160/CGN-9) was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy and the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Long Beach, California.

USS <i>Nautilus</i> (SSN-571) First nuclear-powered submarine of the US Navy, in service from 1954 to 1980

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and on 3 August 1958 became the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole. Her initial commanding officer was Eugene "Dennis" Wilkinson, a widely respected naval officer who set the stage for many of the protocols of today's Nuclear Navy of the US, and who had a storied career during military service and afterwards.

USS <i>Triton</i> (SSRN-586) Nuclear radar picket submarine in service 1959–1969

USS Triton (SSRN/SSN-586), the only member of her class, was a nuclear powered radar picket submarine in the United States Navy. She had the distinction of being the only Western submarine powered by two nuclear reactors. Triton was the second submarine and the fourth vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the Greek god Triton. At the time of her commissioning in 1959, Triton was the largest, most powerful, and most expensive submarine ever built at $109 million excluding the cost of nuclear fuel and reactors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear submarine</span> Submarine powered by a nuclear reactor

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" submarines. Nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for conventional submarines. The large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long periods, and the long interval between refuelings grants a virtually unlimited range, making the only limits on voyage times being factors such as the need to restock food or other consumables.

The S1W reactor was the first prototype naval reactor used by the United States Navy to prove that the technology could be used for electricity generation and propulsion on submarines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear marine propulsion</span> Propulsion system for marine vessels utilizing a nuclear powerplant

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship or submarine with heat provided by a nuclear reactor. The power plant heats water to produce steam for a turbine used to turn the ship's propeller through a gearbox or through an electric generator and motor. Nuclear propulsion is used primarily within naval warships such as nuclear submarines and supercarriers. A small number of experimental civil nuclear ships have been built.

The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Reactors</span> U.S. government office

Naval Reactors (NR), which administers the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, is an umbrella term for the U.S. government office that has comprehensive responsibility for the safe and reliable operation of the United States Navy's nuclear reactors "from womb to tomb." A single entity, it has authority and reporting responsibilities within both the Naval Sea Systems Command and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NA-30). Moreover, the Director of Naval Reactors also serves as a special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations for Naval Nuclear Propulsion.

The United States Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established by Congress on 20 June 1940, by a law which consolidated the functions of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) and the Bureau of Engineering (BuEng). The new bureau was to be headed by a chief and deputy-chief, one selected from the Engineering Corps (Marine Engineer) and the other from the Construction Corps (Naval Architect). The chief of the former Bureau of Engineering, Rear Admiral Samuel M. "Mike" Robinson, was named BuShips' first chief, while the former chief of the Bureau of Construction & Repair, Rear Admiral Alexander H. Van Keuren, was named as BuShips' first Deputy-Chief. The bureau's responsibilities included supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the Navy; managing shipyards, repair facilities, laboratories, and shore stations; developing specifications for fuels and lubricants; and conducting salvage operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Parks Wilkinson</span> US Navy officer

Eugene Parks "Dennis" Wilkinson was a United States Navy officer. He was selected for three historic command assignments. The first, in 1954, was as the first commanding officer of USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. The second was as the first commanding officer of USS Long Beach, America's first nuclear surface ship. The third was in 1980 when he was chosen as the first President and CEO of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) from which he retired in 1984.

United States ship naming conventions for the U.S. Navy were established by congressional action at least as early as 1862. Title 13, section 1531, of the U.S. Code, enacted in that year, reads, in part,

The vessels of the Navy shall be named by the Secretary of the Navy under direction of the President according to the following rule: Sailing-vessels of the first class shall be named after the States of the Union, those of the second class after the rivers, those of the third class after the principal cities and towns and those of the fourth class as the President may direct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear Power School</span> Technical school operated by the U.S. Navy

Nuclear Power School (NPS) is a technical school operated by the U.S. Navy in Goose Creek, South Carolina as a central part of a program that trains enlisted sailors, officers, KAPL civilians and Bettis civilians for shipboard nuclear power plant operation and maintenance of surface ships and submarines in the U.S. nuclear navy. As of 2020 the United States Navy operates 98 nuclear power plants, including 71 submarines, 11 aircraft carriers, two Moored Training Ships (MTS) and two land-based training plants. NPS is the centerpiece of the training pipeline for U.S. Navy nuclear operators. It follows initial training at Nuclear Field "A" School or a college degree, and culminates with certification as a nuclear operator at one of the Navy's two Nuclear Power Training Units (NPTU).

The United States Navy Nuclear Propulsion community consists of Naval Officers and Enlisted members who are specially trained to run and maintain the nuclear reactors that power the submarines and aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Operating more than 80 nuclear-powered ships, the United States Navy is currently the largest naval force in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert G. Mumma</span> American admiral

Albert G. Mumma was a rear admiral in the United States Navy who played a pivotal role in the development of nuclear propulsion for warships. During World War II, he served in France and Germany with the Alsos Mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear-powered cruisers of the United States Navy</span>

In the early 1960s, the United States Navy was the world's first to have nuclear-powered cruisers as part of its fleet. The first such ship was USS Long Beach (CGN-9). Commissioned in late summer 1961, she was the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. She was followed a year later by USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25). While Long Beach was a 'true cruiser', meaning she was designed and built as a cruiser, Bainbridge began life as a frigate, though at that time the Navy was using the hull code "DLGN" for "destroyer leader, guided missile, nuclear". This was prior to the enactment of the 1975 ship reclassification plan, in which frigates (DLG/DLGN), which were essentially large destroyers, were reclassified as cruisers, so that the US Navy's numbers would compete with those of the Soviet Navy. Long Beach, the largest of all the nuclear cruisers, was equipped with a C1W cruiser reactor, while all the others were equipped with D2G destroyer reactors.

References

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  8. Diplomat, Saurav Jha, The. "India's Undersea Deterrent". The Diplomat. Retrieved 9 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  10. Jeffries, John (2001). Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Fordham University Press. ISBN   0-8232-2110-5. , p.162: 'Admiral Rickover', said Powell, '"father of the atomic submarine", is a great naval officer... It is not equally clear that he is a careful and thorough student of American education.'"
  11. "Submarine Range Called Unlimited; Rickover Says Atomic Craft Can Cruise Under Ice To North Pole and Beyond", The New York Times, 6 December 1957, p.33: "The admiral, who is often called the 'Father of the Atomic Submarine'..."
  12. Galantin, I. J. (1997). Submarine Admiral: From Battlewagons to Ballistic Missiles. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   0-252-06675-8. , p. 217: "Chet Holifield... member of the JCAE... said 'Of all the men I dealt with in public service, at least one will go down in history: Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy.'
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  14. Database of radiological incidents and related events
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