J.+Crespi+Nuclear+Page+2


 * //NUCLEAR POWERED SUBMARINES//**


 * When World War 11 was a time of nuclear weapons, but when it was over, less than a decade after the atomic scientists were able to over come the challenge and create the first nuclear powered submarine. The challenge was to design a small enough reactor to fit within a submarine and being able to harness the same energy to generate enough power for operating a ship beneath the surface without letting up. Nuclear-powered submarines were able to work so good, that they are able to operate under water for months. These submarines are and need to be maintained so intensely because of the reactor and other things on the sub.**


 * Submarine reactors work as the same principles as the larger reactors that are used on land in nuclear power stations. Except, the power station reactors, besides the earliest designs, are continuously refueled while the reactor is running. While the submarine reactors are built-in sealed units that contain enough uranium fuel rods to last for ten years or more. The reactor unit after, will be entirely replaced as a general refit. When a reactor has a longer period fuel rod, the more radioactive it becomes and the more plutonium is created in the burning process. Because of this, the core of a submarine reactor, that is close to refit/replacement date, will have extreme radioactivity. Since the reactors produce both radioactive heat and conventional heat, a cooling system is vital. If it breaks down, then the reactor must be shut down immediately to prevent over-heating and later on melt down. But, a shut-down reactor continues to produce heat. Gradually it will diminish, but, as a demonstrated in the case of HMS //Tireless//, engineers will have to wait several months before they are able to begin working on the reactor. Therefore it has to be an auxiliary power supply to keep the cooling system working. These reactors are one of the most important things in a nuclear-powered submarines.**


 * The crew on a nuclear-powered submarine is a crucial factor. They are not only in charge of the submarine itself, but they are also cut off from the outside world, and families for long periods of time. There are different spots in a nuclear submarine, but things are all very tight because of the machinery. The crew members live inside a pressure hull fill with machinery required to keep them alive and allow the ship to function. A “chief’s head” is the toilet of the submarine, the waste is transferred into a holding tank below the commode into a hand-operated ball valve. To remove it, the tank is pressurized to 700 psi and blown outside the pressure hull. A crew’s day lasts about 18 hours, three six-hour watch cycles, one on and two off. They stand watch, then have the next twelve hours for everything else(repair and maintenance tasks, study, relaxation, eating, and sleeping). Then after they go back to duty watch. The crew wears a uniform called a “poopie suit,” it is a standard uniform with a sea blue coveralls, they are made of polyester.**


 * Nuclear submarines are operated quietly, swiftly, independently and for extended periods on. The submarines are an amazingly powered machines. They can carry weapons as warships, crew, and all machinery. Which makes them one of the most complex inventions ever developed by humankind. This effort to design the worlds first nuclear-powered ship also led directly to the development of the most of the world’s nuclear power plants. These are extraordinary nuclear powered submarines.**


 * [[image:http://military.discovery.com/convergence/topten/subs/slideshow/gallery/05_nautilus.jpg width="403" height="303"]] One of the first nuclear powered submarines**


 * "Of all the branches of men in the forces there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariners." -Sir Winston Churchill**


 * [[image:http://news.bbc.co.uk/furniture/in_depth/europe/2000/russian_sub/inside.gif]] Inside a nuclear powered submarine

//Bibliography://**

[|__http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_24/50.htm__]

[|__http://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/operating/aboard/index.html__]

[|__http://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/operating/aboard/habitability/index.html__]

[|__http://americanhistory.si.edu/Subs/const/index.html__]

[|__http://www.cnduk.org/INFORM~1/subs.htm__]

http://military.discovery.com/convergence/topten/subs/slideshow/gallery/05_nautilus.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/furniture/in_depth/europe/2000/russian_sub/inside.gif