Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a ship powered by atomic energy which travels primarily underwater, but also on the surface of the ocean. Previously, conventional submarines used diesel engines that required air for moving on the surface of the water, and battery-powered electric motors for moving beneath it. The limited lifetime of electric batteries meant that even the most advanced conventional submarine could only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed. On the other hand, nuclear submarines consume a relatively small amount of fuel. Because they carry their energy source with them, current generations of nuclear submarines will never need to be refuelled throughout their 25-year lifespans, meaning they can sail around the world 41 times without surfacing.[2] This ability, combined with advanced weapons technology, makes nuclear submarines some of the most useful warships ever built.[3]
History
Both US and USSR were pursuing the technologies to build a nuclear submarine to overcome the limitations of conventional submarines. Nuclear-powered submarines are one of the most potent symbols of the bygone U.S.-Soviet arms race.
The US headed the way and launched the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine[4]. USS Nautilus could circle the world underwater for up to four months without refuelling.
Construction of Nautilus was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission. In July 1951, the US Congress authorized construction of the world's first nuclear powered submarine, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN.[5] Admiral Rickover came up with the idea of nuclear submarines. The Westinghouse Corporation was assigned to build its reactor. After the submarine was completed, President Harry S. Truman broke the traditional bottle of champagne on Nautilus' bow. On January 17, 1955, it began its sea trials after leaving its dock in Groton, Connecticut. The submarine was 320 feet long, and cost about $55 million.
The Soviet Union soon followed the United States in developing nuclear-powered submarines in the 1950s. Stimulated by the US development of the USS Nautilus nuclear submarine, Soviet work on nuclear propulsion reactors began in the early 1950s at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, in Obninsk, under Anatoliy P. Alexandrov, later to become head of the Kurchatov Institute. In 1956, the first Soviet propulsion reactor designed by his team began operational testing. Meanwhile, a design team under Vladimir N. Peregudov worked on the vessel that would house the reactor. After overcoming many obstacles, including steam generation problems, radiation leaks, and other difficulties, the first nuclear submarine based on these combined efforts entered service in the Soviet Navy in 1958.[6]
At the height of the Cold War, approximately five to ten nuclear submarines were being commissioned from each of the four Soviet submarine yards (Sevmash in Severodvinsk, Admiralteyskiye Verfi in St. Petersburg, Krasnoye Sormovo in Nizhniy Novgorod, and Amurskiy Zavod in Komsomolsk-na-Amure)[7].
From the late 1950s through the end of 1997, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, built a total of 245 nuclear submarines, more than all other nations combined[8].
Today, five countries deploy some form of nuclear-powered strategic submarines: the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and China[9]. Several other countries, including Argentina, India and Brazil[10][11], have ongoing projects in different phases to build nuclear-powered submarines.
Technology
The main difference between the standard submarine and the nuclear submarine is the power supply system. Nuclear submarines deploy nuclear reactors to drive the main propeller shaft, which provides the forward and reverse thrust in the water. The reactor uses highly enriched fuel to allow it to deliver a large amount of energy from a smaller reactor. The nuclear reactor also supplies energy to the submarine in order to maintain the air quality, maintain a fresh water supply by distilling the salted water from the ocean, maintain the temperature, etc.
Accidents
Some accidents related to the nuclear power supply have happened over the years, especially in the Soviet Navy.
- K-19, 1961, reactor almost had a meltdown and explosion, which might have started a nuclear war. Several of the crew died of radiation exposure. It is dramatized by a film.
- K-219, 1986, reactor almost had a meltdown and explosion, which might have contaminated the eastern seaboard of the US. Sergei Preminin died after he manually lowered the control rods, and stopped the explosion.
See also
References
- ^ BBC NEWS | Business | Alien submarine breaks technical barriers
- ^ Naval Technology - SSN Astute Class - Attack Submarine
- ^ Submarine: Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Submarine ISBN-10: 0006379478
- ^ USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
- ^ Nuclear Propulsion
- ^ Submarine History 1945-2000: A Timeline of Development
- ^ At the height of the Cold War, approximately five to ten nuclear submarines
- ^ CNS - Resources on Russian Nuclear Submarines
- ^ NTI: Submarine Proliferation
- ^ "Argentina, Brazil eye joint project for nuclear submarine". The Times of India. 25 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ Sarah Diehl and Eduardo Fujii (March 2008), Brazil’s Pursuit of a Nuclear Submarine Raises Proliferation Concerns, WMD Insights, retrieved 2008-03-27