Brazil, the only non-nuclear-weapons state currently with a nuclear submarine development program is working with LEU fuel.Ĭongress responded to the 2014 NR report by appropriating $5 million in FY16 to commence R&D of LEU fuel for Navy propulsion reactors. They also include making it more difficult for countries such as Iran to justify production of HEU for their planned naval reactors. The benefits would include eliminating the possibility of theft of HEU from the naval fuel cycle, which has happened in the past in both the US and Russia. The Congressional interest was in whether it might be possible to expand a longstanding US-led nonproliferation initiative, aimed at ending worldwide civilian use of HEU in research-reactor fuel and medical isotope production, to encompass all non-weapon uses of HEU, including those of the military. allow using LEU fuel with less impact on reactor lifetime, size, and ship costs. Success is not assured, but an advanced fuel system might. Recent work has shown that the potential exists to develop an advanced fuel system that could increase uranium loading beyond what is practical today while meeting the rigorous performance requirements for naval reactors. In comparison to a report on the same topic written in 1995, the 2014 report was quite positive: The origin of the new report can be traced to a request from Congress that led in 2014 to the Office of Naval Reactors (NR) submitting to Congress a Report on Low Enriched Uranium for Naval Reactor Cores (see also an earlier IPFM post). The other two countries with nuclear submarines, China and France, use LEU. Russia and India also use HEU (≥ 20% U-235). These options include pressurized water reactors (PWRs), and a number of possible high-density, low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels.Ĭurrently, US and UK naval reactors are fueled by weapon-grade HEU (93.5% U-235). It ends up recommending two reactor types and seven fuels for further investigation in the next phase of its work. The DNN report was commissioned from three DOE national laboratories with reactor-design expertise: Idaho, Oak Ridge and Argonne. This role was formerly filled by the decommissioned USS Parche.In February 2020, the US Department of Energy's office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation released its report, Initial Evaluation of Fuel-Reactor Concepts for Advanced LEU Fuel Development, a screening study for potential fuel and reactor types that may be relevant to switching US naval nuclear propulsion away from reliance on highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel. The MMP may also be used as an underwater splicing chamber for tapping of undersea fiber optic cables. MMP allows the launch and recovery of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Navy SEALs. This hull section provides for additional payloads to accommodate advanced technology used to carry out classified research and development and for enhanced warfighting capabilities. The third ship of the class, USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23), has a 100-foot hull extension called the multi-mission platform (MMP). The boats also have extensive equipment to allow shallow water operations. Though lacking VLS, the Seawolf-class has eight torpedo tubes and can hold up to 50 weapons (including UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles for attacking land targets) in its torpedo room. Seawolf submarines are larger, faster, and significantly quieter than previous Los Angeles-class submarines they also carry more weapons and have twice as many torpedo tubes. Seawolf-class hulls are constructed from HY-100 steel, which is stronger than the HY-80 steel employed in previous classes, in order to withstand water pressure at greater depths. The Seawolf design was intended to combat the threat of advanced Soviet ballistic missile submarines such as the Typhoon class, and attack submarines such as the Akula class in a deep-ocean environment. The class is exceptionally quiet, fast, well-armed, and equipped with advanced sensors. 11, 1998 and USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) was commissioned February 19, 2005. USS Seawolf (SSN 21) was commissioned July 19, 1997, USS Connecticut (SSN 22) was commissioned on Dec. Navy has three Seawolf-class nuclear-powered attack submarines.
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