The A4W reactor is a
naval reactor used by the
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 millio ...
to
propel
Propel or propelling may refer to:
* Propulsion, to push forward or drive an object forward
* Samsung A767 Propel, a mobile phone
** Samsung i627 Propel Pro
* Propel Water, a drink from the makers of Gatorade
* Propel, a steroid eluting sinus ...
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
s and
generate onboard electricity.
The A4W designation stands for:
* A =
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
platform
* 4 = Contractor's fourth
core
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber ...
design generation
* W = Westinghouse, the contracted designer
History
These
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 radioactiv ...
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, India and Canada).
In a PWR, water is used both as ...
s (PWRs) were jointly designed by
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory is a U.S. Government-owned research and development facility in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, that works exclusively on the design and development of nuclear power for the U.S. Navy. It was one ...
and
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 U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. KAPL was instituted in 1946 under a contract between ...
and built by
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is an American nuclear power company formed in 1999 from the nuclear power division of the original Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It offers nuclear products and services to utilities internationally, includ ...
. Their
reactor cores are expected to operate for about 25 years before refueling is required.
The only ships to use these
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...
s are the
''Nimitz''-class
supercarrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the capital ship of a ...
s, which have two reactors rated at 550 MW
th each. These
generate enough steam to produce 140,000
shaft horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...
(104 MW) for each pair of the ship's four shafts
– two per propulsion plant – plus approximately 100 MW of electricity.
See also
*
A1B reactor
The A1B reactor was developed by the United States Navy for the ''Gerald R. Ford''-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Each ship is powered by two A1B reactors. The reactor was named A1B, following the Navy's reactor-designation scheme of ...
*
''Nimitz''-class aircraft carrier
References
External links
(correcting for the power output from 500 megawatts to 105.)
{{United States Naval reactor
United States naval reactors
Pressurized water reactors