A nuclear navy, or nuclear-powered navy, refers to the portion of a navy consisting of naval ships powered by nuclear marine propulsion. The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed. Prior to nuclear power, submarines were powered by diesel engines and could only submerge through the use of batteries. In order for these submarines to run their diesel engines and charge their batteries they would have to surface or snorkel. The use of nuclear power allowed these submarines to become true submersibles and unlike their conventional counterparts, they became limited only by crew endurance and supplies.
Currently, only the United States and France possess nuclear-powered aircraft-carriers.[1]
The United States Navy has by far the most nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, with ten Nimitz-class carriers and one Gerald R. Ford-class carrier in service. The last conventionally-powered aircraft carrier left the U.S. fleet as of 12 May 2009, when the USS Kitty Hawk was deactivated. France's latest aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is nuclear-powered.[2] The United Kingdom rejected nuclear power early in the development of its Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers on cost grounds, as even several decades of fuel use costs less than a nuclear reactor.[3] Since 1949 the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been one of the lead laboratories in the development of the nuclear navy. The planned indigenous Chinese carriers also feature nuclear propulsion.[4]
Main article: Nuclear submarine |
The United States Navy operates the largest fleet of nuclear submarines.[5] Only the United States Navy, the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, and France's Marine Nationale field an all-nuclear submarine force. By 1989, there were over 400 nuclear-powered submarines operational or being built.[6] Some 250 of these submarines have now been scrapped and some on order cancelled, due to weapons reduction programs. Russia and the United States had over one hundred each, with the United Kingdom and France fewer than twenty each and China six. The Indian Navy launched their first indigenous Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarines on 26 July 2009.[7] India is also operating one nuclear attack submarine with talks of leasing one more nuclear submarine from Russia. India plans to build six nuclear attack submarines and follow on to the Arihant class of ballistic missile submarines.[8]
Main article: Nuclear powered cruisers of the United States Navy |
The US had several nuclear cruisers. The cruisers were the USS Bainbridge, USS California, USS Long Beach, USS Truxtun, USS South Carolina, USS Virginia, USS Texas, USS Mississippi, and USS Arkansas. The Long Beach was deemed too expensive and was decommissioned in 1995 instead of receiving its third nuclear refueling and proposed upgrade. It was sold for scrap in 2012 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Currently the United States does not have any nuclear cruisers.[citation needed]
Russia has four Kirov-class battlecruisers, though only one is active, the other three being laid up. The command ship SSV-33 Ural, based on the Kirov class, is also laid up. Seven civilian nuclear icebreakers remain in service: four of six Arktika-class icebreakers, the two Taymyr-class icebreakers Taymyr and Vaygach, and the LASH carrier and container ship Sevmorput.[citation needed]
Country | 1st PWR fabricated | 1st PWR acquired | 1st vessel | Commissioned | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 1953 | - | USS Nautilus (SSN-571) | 1955 | World's first nuclear submarine / vessel |
USSR | 1958 | - | K-3 Leninsky Komsomol | 1958 | |
United Kingdom | 1965 | 1962 | HMS Dreadnought (S101) | 1963 | HMS Dreadnought utilised an imported US S5W reactor, with HMS Valiant (S102) carrying the first UK built Rolls-Royce PWR, in 1966. |
Germany | 1968 | - | Otto Hahn (ship) | 1968 | Commercial ship, scrapped in 2009 |
France | 1970 | - | Redoutable (S611) | 1971 | |
Japan | 1970 | - | Mutsu (nuclear ship) | 1972 | Decommissioned 1992 |
China | 1973 | - | Han (S401) | 1974 | |
Russia | 1992 | 1992 | K-419 Kuzbass | 1992 | The Russian navy inherited approximately 250 nuclear powered vessels from the Soviet navy, in January 1992. |
India | 2016 | 1988 | INS Chakra | 1998 | Soviet submarine K-43, leased in 1988, and Russian submarine Nerpa (K-152), leased in 2012, have both carried the INS Chakra name. INS Arihant is India's first indigenously constructed nuclear submarine, commissioned in 2016. |
Brazil | 2018 | - | Brazilian submarine Álvaro Alberto | exp. 2029 | Currently under construction the SN-10 Álvaro Alberto is to be the first nuclear vessel of the Brazilian navy, its reactor, the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor, was launched in 2018[15] and is currently under trials, the hull will be an expanded version of the Scorpène-class submarine. |