The KN-3 reactor (VM-16) is the
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
used in pairs to power the s. The reactor was also intended to be used on the
''Ulyanovsk'' class of
supercarrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a n ...
s. It is a
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) i ...
(PWR), using
enriched uranium-235
Uranium-235 (235U or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exi ...
fuel to produce
300 MW of power.
It was developed by
OKBM Afrikantov
OKBM Afrikantov (full name: OAO I. I. Afrikantov OKB Mechanical Engineering, russian: Опытное конструкторское бюро машиностроения им. И. И. Африкантова) is a nuclear engineering com ...
.
Soviet naval reactors
Pressurized water reactors
{{Soviet-stub
de:Kirow-Klasse#Antrieb