Marine reactors

Dusty · Veteran Member

Marine reactors

NUKE ROCKY44 · Senior Member

I think there was a case USS San Francisco (SSN-711) where a nuclear sub had crashed into a Seamound heavy damage but not to the reactor.

I would think in actual combat scenarios the sub's reactor is not the highest priority since the vessel's' safety is tied to a strategy of conducting a deadly strike at an enemy vessel to prevent total annihilation. They do build and design sub reactors for combat contingencies into war submarines.

10kBq Jaro · Senior Member

Russia's Kursk SSBN sank with all hands on board, after a torpedo exploded INSIDE the sub.
The Kursk was salvaged from the bottom of the sea with help from Norway.
After examination in dry dock, the Russians said that the reactor was in such good condition, it could have been restarted without any repairs.

GoogleNaut · Guru

Dusty wrote:

I am curious to know what safeguards are built into marine reactors in the event of the ship foundering. This is of course of particular relevence with warships since it is in the nature of warships to get sunk!

D

I suspect that there are many automatic safeguards--I believe Admiral Hyman Rickover insisted on them right from the beginning (probably in anticipation of peacetime and wartime losses.) Any former Navy Nukes are welcome to chime in--please--but I think there are provisions for the reactor control equpiment to automatically shut the reactor down in the event of a salt water intrusion into the engine room. Thus even if a submarine takes a hit--and presumably kills the crew--the reactor will shut itself down even as the submarine plumets to the bottom. It sounds a bit macrabe perhaps, but it just doesn't make sense--even in wartime--to create a radiological disaster on top of the disaster of wartime if you can avoid it. I would be willing to suspect that modern Russian naval nuclear power systems probably have similar provisions and features.

The US loss of SSN-593 USS Thresher on 10 April 1963 followed by SSN-598 USS
Scorpion on 27 May 1968 did not result in any significant radiological contamination of the ocean floor, despite both being crushed by the pressure. Despite the tragic loss of life in both accidents, apparently automatic safety systems on both subs worked to shut the reactors down before the reactor pressure vessels were breached by melting down. I believe that the US Navy still periodically monitors both sites radioactive leakage to this day.

-- Edited by GoogleNaut at 09:47, 2007-08-01