Misplaced Pages

#193806

46-584: Design began in the 1960s when the NII-24 research institute was ordered to produce a new weapon capable of engaging nuclear submarines . The merger of the institute and GSKB-47 created the Research Institute of Applied Hydromechanics, who continued with the design and production of the Shkval. Previously operational as early as 1977, the torpedo was announced as being deployed in the 1990s. The Shkval

92-462: A linear no-threshold model for very low doses. A Greenpeace report puts this figure at 200,000 or more. A disputed Russian publication, Chernobyl , concludes that 985,000 premature deaths occurred worldwide between 1986 and 2004 as a result of radioactive contamination from Chernobyl. The Kyshtym disaster , which occurred at Mayak in Russia on 29 September 1957, was rated as a level 6 on

138-889: A "considerable amount" of information regarding submarine design and quietening techniques transferred from the United Kingdom to the United States. The rafting system for the Valiant class provided the Royal Navy with an advantage in submarine silencing that the United States Navy did not introduce until considerably later. Nuclear power proved ideal for the propulsion of strategic ballistic missile submarines (SSB), greatly improving their ability to remain submerged and undetected. The world's first operational nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN)

184-613: A design team under Vladimir N. Peregudov worked on the vessel that would house the reactor. After overcoming many obstacles, including steam generation problems, radiation leaks, and other difficulties, the first nuclear submarine based on these combined efforts, K-3 Leninskiy Komsomol of the Project 627 Kit class, called a November-class submarine by NATO , entered service in the Soviet Navy in 1958. The United Kingdom 's first nuclear-powered submarine HMS  Dreadnought

230-753: A name with Captain Nemo 's fictional submarine Nautilus in Jules Verne 's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas , the first demonstrably practical submarine Nautilus , and another USS  Nautilus  (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II ). The Westinghouse Corporation was assigned to build its reactor. After the submarine was completed at the Electric Boat Company , First Lady Mamie Eisenhower broke

276-399: A nuclear warhead. Nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor , but not necessarily nuclear-armed . Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric ) submarines. Nuclear propulsion , being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as

322-648: A result of the accident." By contrast, only 6,000 death certificates have been found for residents of the Tech riverside between 1950 and 1982 from all causes of death, though perhaps the Soviet study considered a larger geographic area affected by the airborne plume. The most commonly quoted estimate is 200 deaths due to cancer, but the origin of this number is not clear. More recent epidemiological studies suggest that around 49 to 55 cancer deaths among riverside residents can be associated to radiation exposure. This would include

368-624: A worker in charge of measuring radiation after the meltdown, who was in his 50s, died from lung cancer; he had been diagnosed in 2016 and his death was attributed to his radiation exposure. In contrast, an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal cites a 2013 Japanese study, which concluded that mortality due to "evacuation stress" from the area around Fukushima had reached more than 1600. This includes deaths from suicide and lack of access to critical health care, but not from radiation, increased cancer, or any other direct result of

414-473: Is intended as a countermeasure against torpedoes launched by undetected enemy submarines. The VA-111 is launched from 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes at 50 kn (93 km/h; 58 mph). A solid-fuel rocket accelerates it to cavitation speed, with a combined-cycle gas turbine in the nose creating the required gas bubble. Once accelerated, speed is maintained by an underwater ramjet fueled by hydroreactive metals using seawater as both reactant and

460-419: Is necessary for conventional submarines. The large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long periods, and the long interval between refuelings grants a virtually unlimited range, making the only limits on voyage times being factors such as the need to restock food or other consumables. The limited energy stored in electric batteries means that even

506-452: Is observable by thermal imaging systems, e.g., FLIR . Another problem is that the reactor is always running, creating steam noise, which can be heard on sonar , and the reactor pump (used to circulate reactor coolant), also creates noise, as opposed to a conventional submarine, which can move about on almost silent electric motors. The useful lifetime of a nuclear submarine is estimated to be approximately 25 to 30 years, after this period

SECTION 10

#1732798328194

552-610: The International Nuclear Event Scale , the third most severe incident after Chernobyl and Fukushima. Because of the intense secrecy surrounding Mayak, it is difficult to estimate the death toll of Kyshtym. One book claims that "in 1992, a study conducted by the Institute of Biophysics at the former Soviet Health Ministry in Chelyabinsk found that 8,015 people had died within the preceding 32 years as

598-619: The S1W and iterations of designs have operated without incident since USS Nautilus (SSN-571) launched in 1954. The idea for a nuclear-powered submarine was first proposed in the United States Navy by the Naval Research Laboratory 's physicist Ross Gunn in 1939. The Royal Navy began researching designs for nuclear propulsion plants in 1946. Construction of the world's first nuclear-powered submarine

644-474: The propeller shaft or rely on the reactor heat to produce steam that drives steam turbines ( cf. nuclear marine propulsion ). Reactors used in submarines typically use highly enriched fuel (often greater than 20%) to enable them to deliver a large amount of power from a smaller reactor and operate longer between refuelings – which are difficult due to the reactor's position within the submarine's pressure hull. The nuclear reactor also supplies power to

690-531: The traditional bottle of champagne on Nautilus ' bow, and the submarine was commissioned USS  Nautilus  (SSN-571) , on 30 September 1954. On 17 January 1955, she departed Groton, Connecticut , to begin sea trials . The submarine was 320 feet (98 m) long and cost about $ 55 million. Recognizing the utility of such vessels, the British Admiralty formed plans to build nuclear-powered submarines. The Soviet Union soon followed

736-481: The 600,000 most heavily exposed people, a group which includes emergency workers, nearby residents, and evacuees, but excludes residents of low-contaminated areas. A 2006 report , commissioned by the anti nuclear German political party The Greens and sponsored by the Altner Combecher Foundation, predicted 30,000 to 60,000 cancer deaths as a result of worldwide Chernobyl fallout by assuming

782-588: The Admiralty Research Station, HMS Vulcan , at Dounreay , developed a completely new British nuclear propulsion system. In 1960, the UK's second nuclear-powered submarine was ordered from Vickers Armstrong and, fitted with Rolls-Royce's PWR1 nuclear plant, HMS  Valiant was the first all-British nuclear submarine. Further technology transfers from the United States made Rolls-Royce entirely self-sufficient in reactor design in exchange for

828-979: The Golfs. The first Soviet SSBN with 16 missiles was the Project 667A (Yankee class) , the first of which entered service in 1967, by which time the US had commissioned 41 SSBNs, nicknamed the " 41 for Freedom ". At the height of the Cold War , approximately five to ten nuclear submarines were being commissioned from each of the four Soviet submarine yards ( Sevmash in Severodvinsk , Admiralteyskiye Verfi in St.Petersburg, Krasnoye Sormovo in Nizhny Novgorod , and Amurskiy Zavod in Komsomolsk-on-Amur ). From

874-541: The United Kingdom, all former and current nuclear submarines of the British Royal Navy (with the exception of three: HMS  Conqueror , HMS  Renown and HMS  Revenge ) have been constructed in Barrow-in-Furness (at BAE Systems Submarine Solutions or its predecessor VSEL ) where construction of nuclear submarines continues. Conqueror is the only nuclear-powered submarine in

920-623: The United States in developing nuclear-powered submarines in the 1950s. Stimulated by the U.S. development of Nautilus , Soviets began work on nuclear propulsion reactors in the early 1950s at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering , in Obninsk , under Anatoliy P. Alexandrov, later to become head of the Kurchatov Institute . In 1956, the first Soviet propulsion reactor designed by his team began operational testing. Meanwhile,

966-885: The actual amount of radiation released in the fire could be double the previous estimates, and that the radioactive plume actually travelled further east, there were 100 to 240 cancer fatalities in the long term as a result of the fire. In a 2013 report, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) stated the overall health risks from the Fukushima disaster to be far lower than those of Chernobyl. There have been no observed or expected deterministic effects. In pregnancies, there has been no expected increase in spontaneous abortions, miscarriages, perinatal mortality, birth defects, or cognitive impairment. Finally, there

SECTION 20

#1732798328194

1012-404: The effective disposal of nuclear submarines is costly, in 2004 it was estimated to cost around 4 billion dollars. Generally there are two options when it comes to decommissioning nuclear submarines. The first option is to defuel the nuclear reactor and remove the material and components that contain radioactivity, after which the hull section containing the nuclear reactor will then be cut out of

1058-508: The effects of all radioactive releases into the river, 98% of which happened long before the 1957 accident, but it would not include the effects of the airborne plume that was carried north-east. The area closest to the accident produced 66 diagnosed cases of chronic radiation syndrome , providing the bulk of the data about this condition. The Windscale fire resulted when uranium metal fuel ignited inside plutonium production piles; surrounding dairy farms were contaminated. The severity of

1104-417: The expansion of gases from its engine and the gas generator in the nose. This minimizes water contact with the torpedo, significantly reducing drag . Early designs may have relied solely on an inertial guidance system . The initial design was intended for nuclear warhead delivery. Later designs reportedly include terminal guidance and conventional warheads . The torpedo steers using four fins that skim

1150-400: The incident was covered up at the time by the UK government, as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan feared that it would harm British nuclear relations with America, and so original reports on the disaster and its health impacts were subject to heavy censorship . The severity of the radioactive fallout was played down, and the release of a highly dangerous isotope during the fire, Polonium-210 ,

1196-556: The incident. An updated 1988 UK government report estimated that 100 fatalities "probably" resulted from cancers as a result of the releases over 40 to 50 years. In 2007, the 50-year anniversary of the fire, new academic research into the health effects of the incident was published by Richard Wakeford, a visiting professor at the University of Manchester's Dalton Nuclear Institute, and by former UK Atomic Energy Authority researcher, John Garland. Their study concluded that because

1242-684: The inner surface of the supercavitation gas bubble. To change direction, the fin(s) on the inside of the desired turn are extended, and the opposing fins are retracted. In 2016, KTRV was upgrading Shkval. The torpedo is manufactured in Kyrgyzstan by the "Dastan" state-owned factory. In 2012 the Russian government asked for a 75% ownership of the factory in exchange for writing off $ 180 million Kyrgyz debt to Russia. In 2000, former U.S. Naval intelligence officer and an alleged Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) spy Edmond Pope (Captain, USN, retired)

1288-510: The late 1950s through the end of 1997, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, built a total of 245 nuclear submarines, more than all other nations combined. Today, six countries deploy some form of nuclear-powered strategic submarines: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and India. Several other countries including Brazil and Australia have ongoing projects in various phases to build nuclear-powered submarines. In

1334-516: The most advanced conventional submarine can remain submerged for only a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed, though recent advances in air-independent propulsion have somewhat ameliorated this disadvantage. The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few of the world's military powers have fielded nuclear submarines. Radiation incidents have occurred within the Soviet submarines, including serious nuclear and radiation accidents , but American naval reactors starting with

1380-552: The most serious nuclear and radiation accidents by death toll in the world have involved nuclear submarine mishaps. To date, all of these were units of the former Soviet Union . Reactor accidents that resulted in core damage and release of radioactivity from nuclear-powered submarines include: Nuclear and radiation accidents by death toll There have been several nuclear and radiation accidents involving fatalities, including nuclear power plant accidents, nuclear submarine accidents, and radiotherapy incidents. Estimates of

1426-485: The new information further supports the statement that high thyroid detection is likely due to more intensive screening. As of 2012 none of the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi site had died from acute radiation poisoning, though six workers died due to various reasons, including cardiovascular disease, during the containment efforts or work to stabilize the earthquake and tsunami damage to the site. In 2018

VA-111 Shkval - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-550: The nuclear accident. The author also states these deaths occurred among people who had been evacuated from areas where the radiation posed little or no risk to their health, areas where they would experience less exposure than the normal amount received by residents in Finland. There was a class action lawsuit brought by a few sailors from USS Ronald Reagan against Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and GE. They claimed to be suffering severe radiation induced illnesses. Ronald Reagan

1518-739: The sea floor. This last option has been considered by some navies and countries in the past. However, while sea disposal is cheaper than land disposal the uncertainty regarding regulations and international law, such as the London Dumping Convention and the Law of the Sea Convention , has stopped them from proceeding with this option. Under development Under development Under development Under development Under development Under development Under development Plans to purchase Under development Some of

1564-525: The source of oxidizer; the torpedo travels at around 200 kn (370 km/h; 230 mph). Some reports indicate that the VA-111 possibly exceeds speeds of 250 kn (460 km/h; 290 mph), and that work on a 300 kn (560 km/h; 350 mph) version was underway. The high speed is made possible by supercavitation , whereby a gas bubble surrounding the torpedo is created by outward deflection of water by its specially-shaped nose cone and

1610-425: The submarine and transported to a disposal site for low-level radioactive waste and get buried according to waste procedures. The second option is to defuel the nuclear reactor, disassemble the submarine propulsion plant, install vents in the nonreactor compartments and fill the reactor compartment. After sealing the submarine it can then be towed to a designated deep-sea disposal site, be flooded and settle intact on

1656-414: The submarine will face fatigue and corrosion of components, obsolescence and escalating operating costs. The decommissioning of these submarines is a long process; some are held in reserve or mothballed for some time and eventually scrapped, others are disposed of immediately. Countries operating nuclear submarines have different strategies when it comes to decommissioning nuclear submarines. Nonetheless,

1702-544: The submarine's other subsystems, such as for maintenance of air quality, fresh water production by distilling salt water from the ocean, temperature regulation, etc. All naval nuclear reactors currently in use are operated with diesel generators as a backup power system. These engines are able to provide emergency electrical power for reactor decay heat removal, as well as enough electric power to supply an emergency propulsion mechanism. Submarines may carry nuclear fuel for up to 30 years of operation. The only resource that limits

1748-418: The time underwater is the food supply for the crew and maintenance of the vessel. The stealth technology weakness of nuclear submarines is the need to cool the reactor even when the submarine is not moving; about 70% of the reactor output heat is dissipated into the sea water. This leaves a "thermal wake", a plume of warm water of lower density which ascends to the sea surface and creates a "thermal scar" that

1794-761: The total number of deaths potentially resulting from the Chernobyl disaster vary enormously: A UNSCEAR report proposes 45 total confirmed deaths from the accident as of 2008 . This number includes 2 non-radiation related fatalities from the accident itself, 28 fatalities from radiation doses in the immediate following months and 15 fatalities due to thyroid cancer likely caused by iodine-131 contamination; it does not include 19 additional individuals initially diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome who had also died as of 2006 , but who are not believed to have died due to radiation doses. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggested in 2006 that cancer deaths could reach 4,000 among

1840-418: The world ever to have engaged an enemy ship with torpedoes, sinking the cruiser ARA  General Belgrano with two Mark 8 torpedoes during the 1982 Falklands War . The main difference between conventional submarines and nuclear submarines is the power generation system. Nuclear submarines employ nuclear reactors for this task. They either generate electricity that powers electric motors connected to

1886-474: Was USS  George Washington with 16 Polaris A-1 missiles, which conducted the first SSBN deterrent patrol November 1960 – January 1961. The Soviets already had several SSBs of the Project 629 (Golf class) and were only a year behind the US with their first SSBN, ill-fated K-19 of Project 658 (Hotel class), commissioned in November 1960. However, this class carried the same three-missile armament as

VA-111 Shkval - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-406: Was covered up at the time. Partly because of this, consensus on the precise number of cancer deaths caused in the long term as a result of the radiation leak has changed over time as more information on the incident has come to light. Taking into account the impact of the release of Polonium-210 for the first time, a 1983 UK government report estimated at least 33 cancer fatalities as a result of

1978-518: Was fitted with an American S5W reactor , provided to Britain under the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement . The hull and combat systems of Dreadnought were of British design and construction, although the hull form and construction practices were influenced by access to American designs. During Dreadnought ' s construction, Rolls-Royce , in collaboration with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at

2024-514: Was held, tried, and convicted in Russia of espionage related to information he obtained about the Shkval weapon system. Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Pope in December 2000 on humanitarian grounds because he had bone cancer . There are at least three variants: All current versions are believed to be fitted only with conventional explosive warheads, although the original design used

2070-657: Was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers in the United States at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Bureau of Ships and the Atomic Energy Commission . In July 1951, the U.S. Congress authorized construction of the first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus , under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover , USN (sharing

2116-403: Was no expected discernible increase in heritable disease or discernible radiation-related increases in any cancers, with the possible exception of thyroid cancer. However, the high detection rates of thyroid nodules, cysts, and cancer may be a consequence of intensive screening. In a 2015 white paper, UNSCEAR stated its findings from 2013 remain valid and largely unaffected by new information, and

#193806