Pressurised water reactors are the most common reactors used in ships and submarines. The pictorial diagram shows the operating principles. Primary coolant is in orange and the secondary coolant (steam and later feedwater) is in blue.
Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that use some form ofnuclear reaction as their primary power source.[1] Many aircraft carriers and submarines currently useuranium fueled nuclear reactors that can provide propulsion for long periods without refueling. There are also applications in the space sector withnuclear thermal andnuclear electric engines which could be more efficient than conventional rocket engines.
The idea of using nuclear material for propulsion dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 it was hypothesized that radioactive material,radium, might be a suitable fuel for engines to propel cars, planes, and boats.[2]H. G. Wells picked up this idea in his 1914 fiction workThe World Set Free.[3]
Nuclear-powered vessels are mainly militarysubmarines, andaircraft carriers.[1] Russia is the only country that currently has nuclear-powered civilian surface ships, mainlyicebreakers. TheUS Navy currently (as of 2022) has 11 aircraft carriers and 70 submarines in service, that are all powered by nuclear reactors. For more detailed articles see:
Russia's Channel One Television news broadcast a picture and details of a nuclear-powered torpedo calledStatus-6 on about 12 November 2015. The torpedo was stated as having a range of up to 10,000 km, a cruising speed of 100 knots, and an operational depth of up to 1000 metres below the surface. The torpedo carried a 100-megaton nuclear warhead.[4]
One of the suggestions emerging in the summer of 1958 from the first meeting of the scientific advisory group that becameJASON was for "a nuclear-powered torpedo that could roam the seas almost indefinitely".[5]
A picture of anAircraft Nuclear Propulsion system, known as HTRE-3 (Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment no. 3). The centralEBR-1 based reactor took the place of chemical fuelcombustion to heat the air. The reactor rapidly raised the temperature via an airheat exchanger and powered the dualJ47 engines in a number of ground tests.[6]
Research into nuclear-powered aircraft was pursued during theCold War by theUnited States and theSoviet Union as they would presumably allow a country to keep nuclear bombers in the air for extremely long periods of time, a useful tactic fornuclear deterrence. Neither country created any operational nuclear aircraft.[1] One design problem, never adequately solved, was the need for heavy shielding to protect the crew fromradiation sickness. Since the advent ofICBMs in the 1960s the tactical advantage of such aircraft was greatly diminished and respective projects were cancelled.[1] Because the technology was inherently dangerous it was not considered in non-military contexts. Nuclear-powered missiles were also researched and discounted during the same period.[1]
The attraction of nuclear propulsion and power in space is built on the theoretical energy efficiency and endurance that can be delivered with a nuclear system, enabling it to function over long distances.[9] However, the systems needed to protect humans in both the space-lift and operations phases are significant detriments. Many types of nuclear propulsion have been proposed as follows.[10]
External Pulsed Plasma Propulsion (EPPP), a propulsion concept by NASA that derives its thrust from plasma waves generated from a series of small, supercritical fission/fusion pulses behind an object in space.[12]
Bimodal nuclear thermal rockets conduct nuclear fission reactions similar to those employed at nuclear power plants including submarines. The energy is used to heat the liquid hydrogen propellant. The vehicle depicted is the "Copernicus" an upper stage assembly being designed for theSpace Launch System (2010).[13]
Bimodal nuclear thermal rockets conduct nuclear fission reactions similar to those employed at nuclear power plants including submarines. The energy is used to heat the liquid hydrogen propellant.[14] Advocates of nuclear-powered spacecraft point out that at the time of launch, there is almost no radiation released from the nuclear reactors. Nuclear-powered rockets are not used to lift off the Earth. Nuclear thermal rockets can provide great performance advantages compared to chemical propulsion systems. Nuclear power sources could also be used to provide the spacecraft with electrical power for operations and scientific instrumentation.[13]Examples:
NERVA (Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications), a US nuclear thermal rocket program.[15]
Project Rover, an American project to develop a nuclear thermal rocket. The program ran at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory from 1955 through 1972.
Project Prometheus, NASA development of nuclear propulsion for long-duration spaceflight, begun in 2003.[17]
Transport and Energy Module (TEM). In April 2011,Anatoly Perminov, head of theRussian Federal Space Agency, announced that it is going to develop a nuclear-powered spacecraft for deep space travel.[18][19] Preliminary design was done by 2013, and 9 more years are planned for development (in space assembly). The price is set at 17 billion rubles (600 million dollars).[20] The nuclear propulsion would offer mega-watt class power and would consist of a space nuclear power and a matrix of ion engines[21][22] According to Perminov, the propulsion will be able to supporthuman mission to Mars, with cosmonauts staying on the Red planet for 30 days. This journey to Mars with nuclear propulsion and a steady acceleration would take six weeks, instead of eight months by using chemical propulsion – assuming thrust of 300 times higher than that of chemical propulsion.[23][24]
The idea of making cars that used radioactive material,radium, for fuel dates back to at least 1903. Analysis of the concept in 1937 indicated that the driver of such a vehicle might need a 50-tonlead barrier toshield them fromradiation.[25]
In 1941, aCaltech physicist named R. M. Langer espoused the idea of a car powered byuranium-235 in the January edition ofPopular Mechanics. He was followed byWilliam Bushnell Stout, designer of theStout Scarab and formerSociety of Engineers president, on 7 August 1945 inThe New York Times. The problem of shielding the reactor continued to render the idea impractical.[26] In December 1945, a John Wilson of London, announced he had created an atomic car. This created considerable interest. The Minister of Fuel and Power along with a large press contingent turned out to view it. The car did not show and Wilson claimed that it had been sabotaged. A later court case found that he was a fraud and there was no nuclear-powered car.[27][28]
Despite the shielding problem, through the late 1940s and early 1950s debate continued around the possibility of nuclear-powered cars. The development of nuclear-powered submarines and ships, and experiments to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft at that time kept the idea alive.[29] Russian papers in the mid-1950s reported the development of a nuclear-powered car by Professor V P Romadin, but again shielding proved to be a problem.[30] It was claimed that its laboratories had overcome the shielding problem with a new alloy that absorbed the rays.[31]
In 1958, at the height of the1950s American automobile culture there were at least four theoretical nuclear-poweredconcept cars proposed, the AmericanFord Nucleon andStudebaker Packard Astral, as well as the FrenchSimca Fulgur designed byRobert Opron[32][33] and theArbel Symétric. Apart from these concept models, none were built and no automotive nuclear power plants ever made.Chrysler engineer C R Lewis had discounted the idea in 1957 because of estimates that an 80,000 lb (36,000 kg) engine would be required by a 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) car. His view was that an efficient means of storing energy was required for nuclear power to be practical.[34] Despite this, Chrysler's stylists in 1958 drew up some possible designs.
In 1959 it was reported thatGoodyear Tire and Rubber Company had developed a newrubber compound that was light and absorbed radiation, obviating the need for heavy shielding. A reporter at the time considered it might make nuclear-powered cars and aircraft a possibility.[35]
TheChrysler TV-8 was an experimental concept tank designed byChrysler in the 1950s.[1] The tank was intended to be anuclear-poweredmedium tank capable of land and amphibious warfare. The design was never mass-produced.[39]
TheX-12 was a nuclear powered locomotive, proposed in a feasibility study done in 1954 at the University of Utah.[40]
^The Science Review, Issues 1-12, University of Melbourne Science Club, Melbourne University, 1937, page 22
^Automobile Quarterly, Volume 31 Number 1, 1992, pages 14-29
^"First Atomic Car "sabotaged"". Queensland, Australia: Townsville Daily Bulletin. 3 December 1945. p. 2. RetrievedMarch 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
