NAVIK: Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion

Hi readers !

Its very difficult to stay away from you guys and I have prepared the topic as interesting as anybody would have want.

The topic that we will discuss about is Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion. As we all know the whole global commerce rests on the maritime shipping. In 2017 UNCTAD ( United Nation conference on Trade And Development ) marked it 10.7 billion tons. This heavy transfer ensures that the sea routes are always busy. These routes are such busy that even marking the number Of ships currently on voyage is very difficult. Maritime transport accounts for over 80% of world trade by volume and for approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while it is also a contributor to air pollution close to coastal regions.

In response to this the maritime community is moving towards the alternative fuels. The immediate effect of introducing alternative fuels will be a strong reduction in SOx, NOx, and PM, while greenhouse gas reductions will also be possible, depending on what types of fuel are used. One of these options is the Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion.

It is rapidly gaining applause in the industry due to the high working efficiency of these engines. The fuel is durable and the power generation is also better than the old common engines.

HISTORY

The Nuclear propulsion in ships was started by the US Navy by the 'USS Nautilus' a submarine, which was enriched with Uranium fuelled PWR ( Pressurised Water Reactor ). Continuing its legacy US Navy is currently the leader in the Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion. Given below is the US Nautilus.

Image source: Google Images

Currently Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion is exhausted by 6 countries worldwide. They are

United States of America
India
China
France
United Kingdom
Russia

Merchant fleets have had but very scarce Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion. It was applied but for a very small period of time. They were 2 general cargo and one experimental ship just for a technical showoff you all know that.

WHY THEY USE NUCLEAR-POWERED PROPULSION

This question is very obvious but important. We will be reading it in points as points are rather easy to digest.

They have practically zero emissions. With the world going towards the green energy concept, this nuclear propulsion is proving to be a good move.
Once fuelled this Nuclear engine doesn't require any refuelling atleast for 20 years ! Do you believe it ? It's just phenomenal.
Also the nuclear powered ships are very important asset as, the new era wants the cargo transference to be agile and the nuclear ships are a lot faster than the regular steam turbine engines.
Not only the shipping is faster but also we have to do less maneuvering at ports as there is no need of refuelling.
A Nuclear-powered Marine propulsion is most efficient when it comes to Global warming consideration. There is absolutely nothing in emissions whatsoever.
There is low noise and vibrational problems in the Nuclear-powered Marine engines.

CURRENT SCENARIO

Currently the fleets which are running on the nuclear technology are given below. I have also included the old ships which were made for experimentation.

* Ton Arktika was made in 1975 and it is a fleet of 6 different ships. One of them is NS ARKTIKA the first vessel to reach North pole.

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT US NAVY FLEETS

When it comes to US Navy we will again do it by points.

USS NAUTILUS was first ever nuclear powered marine vehicle. Made in 1958
Currently US Navy has 10 USS Nimitz and 1 Gerald R Ford Class vesseland nearly 74 submarines
USS Enterprise is only aircraft carrier to house more than 2 reactors. It had 8 reactor units. Really mammoth. While USS Nimitz had only 2 reactor units.

INDIAN NAVY EFFORTS FOR THE NUCLEAR PROPULSION

INS Arihant is a Nuclear-powered submarine which is the only marine vehicle to be Nuclear-powered.
Rumors are made that the commenced Aircraft carrier INS Vishal which is in building yet would be a nuclear powered ship. But there is no confirmation yet whatsoever.

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts"

- Winston Churchill

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