Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship or submarine with heat provided by a
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 from nu ...
. The power plant heats water to produce steam for a turbine used to turn the ship's
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
through a
gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
or through an electric generator and motor. Nuclear propulsion is used primarily within naval warships such as
nuclear submarines
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...
and
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. A small number of experimental civil nuclear ships have been built.
Compared to oil- or coal-fuelled ships, nuclear propulsion offers the advantages of very long intervals of operation before refueling. All the fuel is contained within the nuclear reactor, so no cargo or supplies space is taken up by fuel, nor is space taken up by exhaust stacks or combustion air intakes. However, the low fuel cost is offset by high operating costs and investment in infrastructure, so nearly all nuclear-powered vessels are military.
Power plants
Basic operation of naval ship or submarine
Most naval nuclear reactors are of the pressurized water type, with the exception of a few attempts at using liquid sodium-cooled reactors. A primary water circuit transfers heat generated from
nuclear fission
Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...
in the fuel to a
steam generator A Steam generator is a device used to boil water to create steam. More specifically, it may refer to:
*Boiler (steam generator), a closed vessel in which water is heated under pressure
*Monotube steam generator
*Supercritical steam generator or Ben ...
; this water is kept under pressure so it does not boil. This circuit operates at a temperature of around . Any
radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...
in the primary water is confined. Water is circulated by pumps; at lower power levels, reactors designed for submarines may rely on natural circulation of the water to reduce noise generated by the pumps.
The hot water from the reactor heats a separate water circuit in the steam generator. That water is converted to steam and passes through steam driers on its way to the
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
. Spent steam at low pressure runs through a condenser cooled by seawater and returns to liquid form. The water is pumped back to the steam generator and continues the cycle. Any water lost in the process can be made up by desalinated sea water added to the steam generator feed water.
In the turbine, the steam expands and reduces its pressure as it imparts energy to the rotating blades of the turbine. There may be many stages of rotating blades and fixed guide vanes. The output shaft of the turbine may be connected to a gearbox to reduce rotation speed, then a shaft connects to the vessel's propellers. In another form of drive system, the turbine turns an electrical generator, and the electric power produced is fed to one or more drive motors for the vessel's propellers. The
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
navies rely on direct steam turbine propulsion, while French and Chinese ships use the turbine to generate electricity for propulsion (
turbo-electric transmission
A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts.
Tur ...
).
Some nuclear submarines have a single reactor, but Russian submarines have two, and so had . Most American aircraft carriers are powered by two reactors, but had eight. The majority of marine reactors are of the pressurized water type, although the U.S. and Soviet navies have designed warships powered with
liquid metal cooled reactor
A liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor, liquid metal fast reactor or LMFR is an advanced type of nuclear reactor where the primary coolant is a liquid metal. Liquid metal cooled reactors were first adapted for nuclear submarine use and have been s ...
s.
Differences from land power plants
Marine-type reactors differ from land-based commercial electric power reactors in several respects.
While land-based reactors in nuclear power plants produce up to around 1600 megawatts of net electrical power (the
nameplate capacity
Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,
of the EPR), a typical marine propulsion reactor produces no more than a few hundred megawatts. Some
small modular reactor
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a proposed class of nuclear fission reactors, smaller than conventional nuclear reactors, which can be built in one location (such as a factory), then shipped, commissioned, and operated at a separate site. The ...
s (SMR) are similar to marine propulsion reactors in capacity and some design considerations and thus nuclear marine propulsion (whether civilian or military) is sometimes proposed as an additional market niche for SMRs. Unlike for land-based applications where hundreds of acres can be occupied by installations like
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. It occupies 932 ha (2300 acres) of land. The facility derives its name from Bruce Township, the local municipality when ...
, at sea tight space limits dictate that a marine reactor must be physically small, so it must generate higher power per unit of space. This means its components are subject to greater stresses than those of a land-based reactor. Its mechanical systems must operate flawlessly under the adverse conditions encountered at sea, including vibration and the pitching and rolling of a ship operating in rough seas. Reactor shutdown mechanisms cannot rely on gravity to drop control rods into place as in a land-based reactor that always remains upright. Salt water corrosion is an additional problem that complicates maintenance.
As the core of a seagoing reactor is much smaller than a power reactor, the probability of a neutron intersecting with a fissionable nucleus before it escapes into the shielding is much lower. As such, the fuel is typically more highly enriched (i.e., contains a higher concentration of 235U vs. 238U) than that used in a land-based nuclear power plant, which increases the probability of fission to the level where a sustained reaction can occur. Some marine reactors run on relatively low-enriched
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
which requires more frequent refueling. Others run on
highly enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...
, varying from 20% 235U, to the over 96% 235U found in U.S.
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s, in which the resulting smaller core is quieter in operation (a big advantage to a submarine). Using more-highly enriched fuel also increases the reactor's power density and extends the usable life of the nuclear fuel load, but is more expensive and a greater risk to nuclear proliferation than less-highly enriched fuel.
A marine nuclear propulsion plant must be designed to be highly reliable and self-sufficient, requiring minimal maintenance and repairs, which might have to be undertaken many thousands of miles from its home port. One of the technical difficulties in designing fuel elements for a seagoing nuclear reactor is the creation of fuel elements that will withstand a large amount of radiation damage. Fuel elements may crack over time and gas bubbles may form. The fuel used in marine reactors is a metal-
zirconium
Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...
alloy rather than the ceramic UO2 (
uranium dioxide
Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (), also known as urania or uranous oxide, is an oxide of uranium, and is a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite. It is used in nuclear fuel rods in nuclear rea ...
) often used in land-based reactors. Marine reactors are designed for long core life, enabled by the relatively high enrichment of the uranium and by incorporating a "
burnable poison
In applications such as nuclear reactors, a neutron poison (also called a neutron absorber or a nuclear poison) is a substance with a large neutron absorption cross-section. In such applications, absorbing neutrons is normally an undesirable eff ...
" in the fuel elements, which is slowly depleted as the fuel elements age and become less reactive. The gradual dissipation of the "nuclear poison" increases the reactivity of the core to compensate for the lessening reactivity of the aging fuel elements, thereby extending the usable life of the fuel. The compact
reactor pressure vessel
A reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in a nuclear power plant is the pressure vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core.
Classification of nuclear power reactors
Russian Soviet era RBMK reactors have each fuel a ...
is provided with an internal
neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...
shield, which reduces the damage to the steel from constant neutron bombardment.
Decommissioning
Decommissioning nuclear-powered submarines has become a major task for U.S. and Russian navies. After defuelling, U.S. practice is to cut the reactor section from the vessel for disposal in shallow land burial as low-level waste (see the ''
ship-submarine recycling program
The Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process that the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations ...
''). In Russia, whole vessels, or sealed reactor sections, typically remain stored afloat, although a new facility near
Sayda Bay
Sayda-Guba (russian: Сайда-Губа), also known in English as Sayda Bay, is a rural locality (an inhabited locality) within the administrative jurisdiction of the closed administrative-territorial formation of Alexandrovsk in Murmansk Oblas ...
is to provide storage in a concrete-floored facility on land for some submarines in the far north.
Future designs
Russia built a
floating nuclear power plant
A floating nuclear power plant is a floating power station that derives its energy from a nuclear reactor. Instead of a stationary complex on land, they consist of a floating structure such as an offshore platform, barge or conventional ship.
S ...
for its far eastern territories. The design has two 35 MWe units based on the
KLT-40 reactor The KLT-40 family are nuclear fission reactors originating from OK-150 and OK-900 ship reactors. KLT-40 were developed to power the ''Taymyr''-class icebreakers (KLT-40M, 171 MW) and the LASH carrier ''Sevmorput'' (KLT-40, 135 MW).icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
s (with refueling every four years). Some Russian naval vessels have been used to supply electricity for domestic and industrial use in remote far eastern and Siberian towns.
In 2010,
Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...
was investigating the possibility of civilian nuclear marine propulsion and rewriting draft rules (see text under ''Merchant Ships'')..
Civil liability
Insurance of nuclear vessels is not like the insurance of conventional ships. The consequences of an accident could span national boundaries, and the magnitude of possible damage is beyond the capacity of private insurers. A special international agreement, the ''Brussels Convention on the Liability of Operators of Nuclear Ships'', developed in 1962, would have made signatory national governments liable for accidents caused by nuclear vessels under their flag but was never ratified owing to disagreement on the inclusion of warships under the convention. Nuclear reactors under United States jurisdiction are insured by the provisions of the Price–Anderson Act.
Military nuclear ships
By 1990, there were more nuclear reactors powering ships (mostly military) than there were generating electric power in commercial power plants worldwide.
Under the direction of
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
Captain (later Admiral)
Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman G. Rickover (January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986) was an admiral in the U.S. 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 offic ...
, the design, development and production of nuclear marine propulsion plants started in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the 1940s. The first prototype naval reactor was constructed and tested at the
Naval Reactor Facility
The Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) is located 52 miles northwest of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The NRF is a United States Department of Energy-Naval Reactors facility where three nuclear propulsion prototypes A1W, S1W and S5G were located. It is contra ...
at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho (now called the
Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nu ...
) in 1953.
Submarines
The first
nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...
, , put to sea in 1955 (SS was a traditional designation for U.S. submarines, while SSN denoted the first "nuclear" submarine).
The Soviet Union also developed nuclear submarines. The first types developed were the Project 627, NATO-designated with two water-cooled reactors, the first of which, K-3 ''Leninsky Komsomol'', was underway under nuclear power in 1958.
Nuclear power revolutionized the submarine, finally making it a true "underwater" vessel, rather than a "submersible" craft, which could only stay underwater for limited periods. It gave the submarine the ability to operate submerged at high speeds, comparable to those of surface vessels, for unlimited periods, dependent only on the endurance of its crew. To demonstrate this was the first vessel to execute a submerged
circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circ ...
of the Earth (
Operation Sandblast
Operation Sandblast was the code name for the first submerged circumnavigation of the world, executed by the United States Navy nuclear-powered radar picket submarine in 1960 under the command of Captain Edward L. Beach Jr.
The circumnavigatio ...
), doing so in 1960.
''Nautilus'', with a
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water reactor, 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 ...
(PWR), led to the parallel development of other submarines like a unique liquid metal cooled (sodium) reactor in , or two reactors in ''Triton'', and then the s, powered by single reactors, and a cruiser, , in 1961, powered by two reactors.
By 1962, the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
had 26 operational nuclear submarines and another 30 under construction. Nuclear power had revolutionized the Navy. The United States shared its technology with the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, while
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
development proceeded separately.
After the ''Skate''-class vessels, U.S. submarines were powered by a series of standardized, single-reactor designs built by Westinghouse and
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
.
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
built similar units for
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
submarines, eventually developing a modified version of their own, the PWR-2 (
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water reactor, 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 ...
).
The largest nuclear submarines ever built are the 26,500 tonne Russian . The smallest nuclear warships to date are the 2,700 tonne French attack submarines. The U.S. Navy operated an unarmed nuclear submarine, the
NR-1 Deep Submergence Craft
Deep Submergence Vessel ''NR-1'' was a unique United States Navy (USN) nuclear-powered ocean engineering and research submarine, built by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics at Groton, Connecticut. ''NR-1'' was launched on 25 January ...
, between 1969 and 2008, which was not a combat vessel but was the smallest nuclear-powered submarine at 400 tons.
Aircraft carriers
The United States and France have built nuclear
aircraft carrier
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 ...
s.
* The sole French nuclear
aircraft carrier
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 ...
example is , commissioned in 2001 (a second one is planned).
* The United States Navy have a much broader experience. , in service 1962–2012, powered by eight reactor units, is still the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors, with each
A2W reactor
The A2W reactor is a naval nuclear reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The A2W designation stands for:
* A = Aircraft carrier platform
* 2 = Second generation core designed by the ...
taking the place of one of the conventional boilers in earlier constructions. Recent U.S. vessels include the and successor es.
French Navy
The French Navy operates one carrier equipped with catapults and arresters. The is a 42,000 tonne nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, commissioned in 2001 and is the
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). The ship carries a complement of
Dassault Rafale M
The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...
combat search and rescue
Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones.
A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refuelin ...
, as well as modern electronics and
Aster
Aster or ASTER may refer to:
Biology
* ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants
** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English
* Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...
missiles.
United States Navy
The United States Navy operates 11 carriers, all nuclear-powered:
*: ten 101,000-ton, 1,092 ft long fleet carriers, the first of which was commissioned in 1975. A ''Nimitz''-class carrier is powered by two
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 from nu ...
s providing steam to four
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s and is long,
*, one 110,000-ton, 1,106 ft long fleet carrier. The lead of the class , came into service in 2017, with another nine planned.
Destroyers and cruisers
Russian Navy
The ''Kirov'' class, Soviet designation 'Project 1144 Orlan' (
sea eagle
A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.
Taxonomy and evolution
The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...
), is a class of
nuclear-powered
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
guided-missile cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
surface combatant
Surface combatants (or surface ships or surface vessels) are a subset of naval warships which are designed for warfare on the surface of the water, with their own weapons and armed forces. They are generally ships built to fight other ships, subma ...
warships (i.e. not an
aircraft carrier
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 ...
or
amphibious assault ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, as ...
) in operation in the world. Among modern warships, they are second in size only to large
aircraft carriers
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 ...
, and of similar size to a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
era
battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s. The Soviet classification of the ship-type is "heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser" (russian: тяжёлый атомный ракетный крейсер). The ships are often referred to as
battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
s by Western defence commentators due to their size and general appearance.
United States Navy
The
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
at one time had
nuclear-powered
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
cruisers as part of its fleet. The first such ship was USS ''Long Beach'' (CGN-9). Commissioned in 1961, she was the world's first nuclear-powered
surface combatant
Surface combatants (or surface ships or surface vessels) are a subset of naval warships which are designed for warfare on the surface of the water, with their own weapons and armed forces. They are generally ships built to fight other ships, subma ...
. She was followed a year later by USS ''Bainbridge'' (DLGN-25). While ''Long Beach'' was designed and built as a cruiser, ''Bainbridge'' began life as a
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
, though at that time the Navy was using the
hull code
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...
"DLGN" for "
destroyer leader
Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955Blac ...
,
guided missile
In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...
,
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
".
The last nuclear-powered cruisers the Americans would produce would be the four-ship . was commissioned in 1976, followed by in 1977, in 1978 and finally in 1980. Ultimately, all these ships proved to be too costly to maintain and they were all retired between 1993 and 1999.
Other military ships
Communication and command ships
''SSV-33 Ural'' (''ССВ-33 Урал'';
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...
: ''Kapusta''
Russian language">Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
for "cabbage"]) was a command and control naval ship operated by the Soviet Navy. ''SSV-33''s hull was derived from that of the
nuclear-power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
ed s with nuclear marine propulsion. ''SSV-33'' served in
electronic intelligence
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
, missile tracking, space tracking, and communications relay roles. Due to high operating costs, ''SSV-33'' was laid up.
''SSV-33'' carried only light defensive weapons. These were two AK-176 76 mm guns, four AK-630 30 mm guns, and four quadruple Igla missile mounts.
Nuclear-powered UUV
The Poseidon (russian: Посейдон, "
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...
",
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...
Kanyon), previously known by Russian codename Status-6 (russian: Статус-6), is a nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed
unmanned underwater vehicle
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), sometimes known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROU ...
under development by
Rubin Design Bureau
Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering (Russian: Центральное конструкторское бюро "Рубин", shortened to ЦКБ "Рубин") in Saint Petersburg is one of three main Russian centers of submarine desig ...
, capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear
payloads
Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...
. According to Russian state TV, it is able to deliver a
thermonuclear
Thermonuclear fusion is the process of atomic nuclei combining or “fusing” using high temperatures to drive them close enough together for this to become possible. There are two forms of thermonuclear fusion: ''uncontrolled'', in which the re ...
cobalt bomb
A cobalt bomb is a type of "salted bomb": a nuclear weapon designed to produce enhanced amounts of radioactive fallout, intended to contaminate a large area with radioactive material, potentially for the purpose of radiological warfare, mutual as ...
of up to 200
megatonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...
s (four times as powerful as the most powerful device ever detonated, the
Tsar Bomba
The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei Sa ...
, and twice its maximum theoretical yield) against an enemy's naval ports and coastal cities.
Civilian nuclear ships
The following are
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s that are or were in commercial or civilian use and have nuclear marine propulsion.
Merchant ships
Nuclear-powered civil merchant ships have not developed beyond a few experimental ships. The U.S.-built , completed in 1962, was primarily a demonstration of civil nuclear power and was too small and expensive to operate economically as a merchant ship. The design was too much of a compromise, being neither an efficient freighter nor a viable passenger liner. The German-built , completed in 1968, a cargo ship and research facility, sailed some on 126 voyages over 10 years without any technical problems. However, it proved too expensive to operate and was converted to diesel. The Japanese , completed in 1972, was dogged by technical and political problems. Its reactor had significant radiation leakage and fishermen protested against the vessel's operation. All of these three ships used low-enriched uranium. ''
Sevmorput
''Sevmorput'' ( rus, Севморпуть, p=sʲɪvmɐrˈputʲ, Northeast Passage) is a Russian nuclear-powered cargo ship. The 1988-built vessel is one of only four nuclear-powered merchant ships ever built and, after returning to service in 20 ...
'', a Soviet and later Russian
LASH carrier
The lighter aboard ship (LASH) system refers to the practice of loading barges (lighters) aboard a bigger vessel for transport. It was developed in response to a need to transport lighters, a type of (usually but not always) unpowered barge, be ...
with icebreaking capability, has operated successfully on the
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Nov ...
since it was commissioned in 1988. , it is the only nuclear-powered merchant ship in service.
Civilian nuclear ships suffer from the costs of specialized infrastructure. The ''Savannah'' was expensive to operate since it was the only vessel using its specialized nuclear shore staff and servicing facility. A larger fleet could share fixed costs among more operating vessels, reducing operating costs.
Despite this, there is still interest in nuclear propulsion. In November 2010 British Maritime Technology and Lloyd's Register embarked upon a two-year study with U.S.-based Hyperion Power Generation (now
Gen4 Energy
Gen4 Energy, Inc (formerly Hyperion Power Generation, Inc. These publications review past and recent work in the area of marine nuclear propulsion and describe a preliminary concept design study for a Suezmax tanker that is based on a conventional hull form with alternative arrangements for accommodating a 70 MWt nuclear propulsion plant delivering up to 23.5 MW shaft power at maximum continuous rating (average: 9.75 MW). The Gen4Energy power module is considered. This is a small fast-neutron reactor using lead–bismuth eutectic cooling and able to operate for ten full-power years before refueling, and in service last for a 25-year operational life of the vessel. They conclude that the concept is feasible, but further maturity of nuclear technology and the development and harmonisation of the regulatory framework would be necessary before the concept would be viable.
Nuclear propulsion has been proposed again on the wave of
decarbonization
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels bur ...
of marine shipping, which accounts for 3–4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Merchant cargo ships
* , Japan (1970–1992; never carried commercial cargo, rebuilt as diesel engine powered ''RV Mirai'' in 1996)
* , Germany (1968–1979; re-powered with diesel engine in 1979)
* , United States (1962–1972)
* ''
Sevmorput
''Sevmorput'' ( rus, Севморпуть, p=sʲɪvmɐrˈputʲ, Northeast Passage) is a Russian nuclear-powered cargo ship. The 1988-built vessel is one of only four nuclear-powered merchant ships ever built and, after returning to service in 20 ...
'', Russia (1988–present)
Icebreakers
Nuclear propulsion has proven both technically and economically feasible for
nuclear-powered icebreaker
A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an Nuclear marine propulsion, onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. , Russia is the only country that builds and operates nuclear-powered icebreakers ...
s in the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, and later
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
. Nuclear-fuelled ships operate for years without refueling, and the vessels have powerful engines, well-suited to the task of icebreaking.
The Soviet icebreaker ''Lenin'' was the world's first nuclear-powered surface vessel in 1959 and remained in service for 30 years (new reactors were fitted in 1970). It led to a series of larger icebreakers, the 23,500
ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
of six vessels, launched beginning in 1975. These vessels have two reactors and are used in deep Arctic waters. NS ''Arktika'' was the first surface vessel to reach the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
.
For use in shallow waters such as estuaries and rivers, shallow-draft, ''Taymyr''-class icebreakers were built in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and then fitted with their single-reactor nuclear propulsion system in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. They were built to conform to international safety standards for nuclear vessels.
All nuclear-powered icebreakers have been commissioned by the Soviet Union or Russia.
* (1959–1989; museum ship)
* (1975–2008; inactive, decommissioned)
* (1977–1992; scrapped)
* (1985–2013; inactive, decommissioned)
* (1986–present)
* (1989–present)
* (1990–present)
* (1990–2014; decommissioned)
* , formerly ''Ural'' (2007–present)
* (2020–present)
* (2021–present)
* (2022–present)
See also
*
List of United States Naval reactors
List of United States Naval reactors is a comprehensive annotated list of all naval reactors designed, built, or used by the United States Navy.
Reactor designations
Each nuclear reactor design is given a three-character designation consisti ...
*
Naval Reactors
Naval Reactors (NR), also known as 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 propulsion p ...
*
Nuclear navy
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 ...
*
United States Naval reactor
United States naval reactors are nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy aboard certain ships to generate the steam used to produce Power (physics), power for Marine nuclear propulsion, propulsion, electric power, catapulting airplanes ...
*
United States Navy Nuclear Propulsion
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. Ope ...
*
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) is an American research and development facility based in Niskayuna, New York and dedicated to the support of the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. KAPL was instituted in 1946 under a contract between Gener ...
*
Soviet naval reactor
Soviet naval reactors have been used to power both military and civilian vessels, including:
* Nuclear submarines:
** Attack submarines.
** Cruise missile submarines.
** Ballistic missile submarines.
* Nuclear icebreakers:
**
** s
** s
* Russia ...
*
Army Nuclear Power Program
The Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP) was a program of the United States Army to develop small pressurized water and boiling water nuclear power reactors to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessib ...
*
Naval Nuclear Power School
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 pl ...
*
*
Air-independent propulsion
Air-independent propulsion (AIP), or air-independent power, is any marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen (by surfacing or using a snorkel). AIP can augment or replace the ...
*
Russian floating nuclear power station
Floating nuclear power stations (Russian: плавучая атомная теплоэлектростанция малой мощности, ПАТЭС ММ, literally "floating combined heat and power (CHP) low-power nuclear power plant") ar ...
*
Environmental impact of shipping
The environmental effects of shipping include air pollution, water pollution, #Sound pollution, acoustic, and oil pollution. Ships are responsible for more than 18 percent of some air pollutants.
As for greenhouse gas emissions, the Internatio ...
*
Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion
The Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program and the preceding Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project worked to develop a nuclear propulsion system for aircraft. The United States Army Air Forces initiated Project NEPA on ...
*
Nuclear-powered aircraft
A nuclear-powered aircraft is a concept for an aircraft intended to be powered by nuclear energy. The intention was to produce a jet engine that would heat compressed air with heat from fission, instead of heat from burning fuel. During the Co ...
References
* AFP, 11 November 1998; in "Nuclear Submarines Provide Electricity for Siberian Town," FBIS-SOV-98-315, 11 November 1998.
* ITAR-TASS, 11 November 1998; in "Russian Nuclear Subs Supply Electricity to Town in Far East," FBIS-SOV-98-316, 12 November 1998.
Harold Wilson's plan BBC News story
Marine propulsion
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electr ...