* The K-19 accident at sea in 1961 due to cooling failure in an early PWR resulted in 8 deaths from acute radiation syndrome (ARS) in repairing it (doses 7.5 to 54 Sv) and possibly more later as well as many high doses.
(Apart from reactor accidents, fires and accidents have resulted in the loss of two US and about 4 Soviet submarines, another four of which had fires resulting in loss of life.) There were more than 20 radiation fatalities.* Nevertheless, by Russia’s third generation of marine PWRs in the late 1970s safety and reliability had become a high priority. However, early Soviet endeavours resulted in a number of serious accidents – five where the reactor was irreparably damaged, and more resulting in radiation leaks. The safety record of the US nuclear navy is excellent, this being attributed to a high level of standardisation in naval power plants and their maintenance, and the high quality of the Navy's training program. The largest submarines are the 26,500 tonne (34,000 t submerged) Russian Typhoon class, powered by twin 190 MWt PWR reactors, though these were superseded by the 24,000 t Oscar-II class (eg Kursk) with the same power plant. Eventually four generations* of submarine PWRs were utilised, the last entering service in 1995 in the Severodvinsk class. Russia developed both PWR and lead-bismuth cooled reactor designs, the latter not persisting. Rolls-Royce built similar units for the UK Royal Navy submarines and then developed the design further to the PWR2.
MODERN WARSHIPS US LOS ANGELES CA 135 SERIES
The technology was shared with Britain, while French, Russian and Chinese developments proceeded separately.Īfter the Skate-class vessels, reactor development proceeded and in the USA a single series of standardized designs was built by both Westinghouse and GE, one reactor powering each vessel. Nuclear power had revolutionised the Navy. Remarkably, the Enterprise remained in service to the end of 2012.īy 1962 the US Navy had 26 nuclear submarines operational and 30 under construction. A cruiser, USS Long Beach, followed in 1961 and was powered by two of these early units. Nautilus led to the parallel development of further ( Skate-class) submarines, powered by single pressurised water reactors, and an aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, powered by eight Westinghouse reactor units in 1960. This marked the transition of submarines from slow underwater vessels to warships capable of sustaining 20-25 knots submerged for weeks on end. The first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, put to sea in 1955. Work on nuclear marine propulsion started in the 1940s, and the first test reactor started up in USA in 1953. So far, exaggerated fears about safety have caused political restriction on port access.
Nuclear power is particularly suitable for vessels which need to be at sea for long periods without refuelling, or for powerful submarine propulsion.
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