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PWR2
The Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR) series has powered the Royal Navy's nuclear submarines since the , commissioned in 1966. Background Nuclear reactor designs, operating methods and performance standards are highly classified. The United Kingdom's first nuclear-powered submarine , commissioned in 1963, was powered by an American Westinghouse S5W reactor, provided to Britain under the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement.''Vanguard to Trident; British Naval Policy since World War II'', Eric J. Grove, The Bodley Head, 1987, PWR1 The first British naval reactor was the PWR1. It was based on a core and reactor assembly of purely British design. The reactor first went critical in 1965, four years later than planned. Technology transfers under the US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement eventually made Rolls-Royce entirely self-sufficient in reactor design in exchange for a "considerable amount" of information regarding submarine design and quietening techniques being pass ...
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Astute-class Submarine
The ''Astute'' class is the latest class of Nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear-powered attack submarines in service with the Royal Navy. The boats are constructed by BAE Systems Submarines at Barrow-in-Furness. Seven boats will be constructed: the first of class, , was launched by Queen Camilla, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007, Commissioned (ship), commissioned in 2010, and declared fully operational in May 2014. The ''Astute'' class is the replacement for the fleet submarines in Royal Navy service. Development Batch 2 ''Trafalgar'' class The ''Astute''-class programme began in February 1986 when the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched a number of studies intended to determine the capabilities and requirements for the replacement of its ''Swiftsure'' and ''Trafalgar''-class fleet submarines. These studies, called project SSN20, were conducted during the Cold War, when the Royal Navy maintained a strong emphasis on anti-submarine warfar ...
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Dreadnought-class Submarine
The ''Dreadnought'' class is the future replacement for the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarine, ''Vanguard'' class of ballistic missile submarines. Like their predecessors they will carry UGM-133 Trident II, Trident II D-5 missiles. The ''Vanguard'' submarines entered service in the United Kingdom in the 1990s with an intended service life of 25 years. Their replacement is necessary for maintaining a continuous at-sea nuclear deterrence, deterrent (CASD), the principle of operation behind the Trident (UK nuclear programme), Trident system. Provisionally named "Successor" (being the successor to the Vanguard class SSBNs), it was officially announced in 2016 that the first of class would be named ''Dreadnought'', and that the class would be the ''Dreadnought'' class. The next three boats will be called ''Valiant'', ''Warspite'' and ''King George VI''. Background Since the retirement of the last Royal Air Force WE.177 nuclear bomb in 1998, the British nuclear arsenal has been ...
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Vanguard-class Submarine
The ''Vanguard'' class is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) in service with the Royal Navy. The class was introduced in 1994 as part of the Trident nuclear programme, and comprises four vessels: , , and , built between 1986 and 1999 at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, now owned by BAE Systems.''Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004–2005''. Jane's Information Group Limited. p. 794. . All four boats are based at HM Naval Base Clyde (HMS ''Neptune''), west of Glasgow, Scotland. Since the decommissioning of the Royal Air Force WE.177 free-fall thermonuclear weapons during March 1998, the four ''Vanguard'' submarines are the sole platforms for the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons.
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Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment
Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE), formerly HMS ''Vulcan'', is a UK Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD) establishment in Scotland, operated by Rolls-Royce Submarines. The site formerly operated two separate prototype nuclear reactors, trialling five different types of submarine reactor core. The site is located adjacent to the Dounreay civil nuclear site. History When operational, the site housed and operated the prototype nuclear propulsion plants of the type operated by the Royal Navy in its submarine fleet. Originally it was known as the Admiralty Reactor Test Establishment (ARTE). For over 40years Vulcan has been the cornerstone of the Royal Navy's nuclear propulsion programme, testing and proving the operation of five generations of reactor core. Its reactors have significantly led the operational submarine plants in terms of operation hours, proving systems, procedures and safety. The reactors were run at higher levels of intens ...
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Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations
Rolls-Royce Submarines, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce, operates three sites licensed to handle nuclear material, two of which are at Raynesway in Derby, and the other at Dounreay#Vulcan_Nuclear_Reactor_Testing_Establishment_(NRTE), Vulcan Nuclear Reactor Testing Establishment (NRTE), Dounreay, UK. The Manufacturing Site was licensed in August 1960 and deals with processing of uranium fuel and the fabrication of Rolls-Royce PWR nuclear reactor cores for Royal Navy Submarine Service, Royal Navy submarines such as the new . The Neptune/Radioactive Components Facility Site was licensed in November 1961 and houses the Neptune reactor, Neptune test reactor which is used to conduct experiments on reactor cores. It was created as a joint company in 1954 with the name Rolls-Royce and Associates; the associates being Vickers, Foster Wheeler and later Babcock & Wilcox. It changed its name on 15 January 1999 to Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations Limited and is part o ...
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Churchill-class Submarine
The three ''Churchill'' class,Hool, Jack, and Nutter, Keith, ''Damned Un-English Machines, a history of Barrow-built submarines'', pub Tempus, 2003, page 177. sometimes known as the Repeat ''Valiant''-class submarines were nuclear-powered fleet submarines which served with the Royal Navy from the 1970s until the early 1990s. The ''Churchill'' class was based on the older , but featured many internal improvements. The lead vessel was named after the former Prime Minister and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. was the most famous of the class, sinking the Argentinian cruiser during the 1982 Falklands War. , this is the only instance of a nuclear-powered submarine of any nation sinking an enemy ship by torpedo. Design The ''Churchill''s carried a crew of 103 and had a full load displacement of 4,900 tons whilst dived. They were long, had a beam of and a draught of . Their single pressurized water-cooled reactor supplied steam to two English Electric geared ...
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S9G Reactor
The S9G reactor of the United States Navy is designed to generate electricity and propulsion for the ''Virginia''-class attack submarines. The name S9G follows the designation scheme of platform type (submarines), generation (the ninth), and the contractor (General Electric). This pressurized water reactor (PWR), developed by Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (formerly managed by General Electric), features increased energy density, and new plant components, including a new steam generator design featuring improved corrosion resistance and reduced life-cycle costs. The steam generator will alleviate the corrosion concerns encountered in existing designs of steam generators, while reducing component size and weight and providing greater flexibility in overall arrangement. The reactor is designed to operate for 33 years without refueling. This naval nuclear reactor is estimated to generate 210 megawatts (MWt) driving a 30 MW pump-jet propulsion system built by BAE Systems BAE ...
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United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with List of aircraft carriers in service, eleven in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of 18 July 2023. The U.S. Navy is one of six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of eight uniformed services of the United States. The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during ...
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Royal Institution Of Naval Architects
The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (also known as RINA) is a professional institution and global governing body for naval architecture and maritime engineering. Members work in industry, academia, and maritime organisations worldwide, participating in the design, construction, repair, and operation of ships, boats, and marine structures in over 90 countries. The Patron of the Institution was Queen Elizabeth II but is now King Charles III. History The Royal Institution of Naval Architects was founded in Britain in 1860 as The Institution of Naval Architects and was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1910 and 1960 to "advance the art and science of ship design." Founding members included John Scott Russell, Edward Reed, Rev. Joseph Woolley, Nathaniel Barnaby, Frederick Kynaston Barnes, and John Penn. On April 9, 1919, Blanche Thornycroft, Rachel Mary Parsons, and Eily Keary became the first women admitted into the institution. Arms Historical members The ...
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Loss-of-coolant Accident
A loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) is a mode of failure for a nuclear reactor; if not managed effectively, the results of a LOCA could result in reactor core damage. Each nuclear plant's emergency core cooling system (ECCS) exists specifically to deal with a LOCA. Nuclear reactors generate heat internally; to remove this heat and convert it into useful electrical power, a coolant system is used. If this coolant flow is reduced, or lost altogether, the nuclear reactor's emergency shutdown system is designed to stop the fission chain reaction. However, due to radioactive decay, the nuclear fuel will continue to generate a significant amount of heat. The decay heat produced by a reactor shutdown from full power is initially equivalent to about 5 to 6% of the thermal rating of the reactor. If all of the independent cooling trains of the ECCS fail to operate as designed, this heat can increase the fuel temperature to the point of damaging the reactor. *If water is present, it ...
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Freedom Of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public right of access to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level. Its application is limited in Scotland (which has its own freedom of information legislation) to UK Government offices located in Scotland. The Act implements a manifesto commitment of the Labour Party in the 1997 general election, developed by David Clark as a 1997 White Paper. The final version of the Act was criticised by freedom of information campaigners as a diluted form of what had been proposed in the White Paper. The full provisions of the act came into force on 1 January 2005. The Act was the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department (now renamed the Ministry of Justice). However, freedom of information policy is now the responsibility of the Cabinet Office. The Act led to the ...
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Hull Classification Symbol
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 individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies use. History United States Navy The U.S. Navy began to assign unique Naval Registry Identification Numbers to its ships in the 1890s. The system was a simple one in which each ship received a number which was appended to its ship type, fully spelled out, and added parenthetically after the ship's name when deemed necessary to avoid confusion between ships. Under this system, for example, the battleship USS Indiana (BB-1), ''Indiana'' was USS ''Indiana'' (Battleship No. 1), the cruiser USS Olympia (C-6), ''Olympia'' was USS ''Olympia'' (Cruiser No. 6), and so on. Beginn ...
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