From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
S3G reactor
is a
naval reactor
used by the
United States Navy
to provide
electricity generation
and
propulsion
on
warships
. The S3G designation stands for:
Design
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(
November 2016
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This
nuclear reactor
generates 78
MW
. It consists of a highly
enriched uranium
core with a 2-loop
pressurized water reactor
.
History
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]
This design, designated as
S4G
, was used for the two reactors on the
USS
Triton
(SSRN-586)
; no other ships used this reactor plant. The plant had unique design features such as horizontal steam generator U-tubes, and it was one of the only submarine plants with a
deaereating feed tank
(DFT).
S3G prototype under construction at the Kesselring Site, to be operational August 1958
A prototype reactor was built ashore at
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
's Kesselring Site in
West Milton, New York
in 1958 to test the reactor design.
[1]
[2]
Once the design was proven, the prototype continued operation to train students and test new systems and materials. This prototype training reactor was taken off line in 1992 and subsequently decommissioned.
Although the design of the entire S3G reactor plant (core, piping, pumps, etc.) saw only limited use, a design version of the reactor core ("S3G3" or "S3G core 3") was later used for replacement cores for the Navy's 100
S5W reactor
plants when refueled. Another unique feature of the S3G core 3 was the use of Y-shaped control rods versus the standard
cruciform
control rods used in the S5W core. The core also utilized a rod configuration called "skewed divergent" for ease of maintenance.
The S3G prototype was located at West Milton, N.Y. and consisted of a submarine reactor unit, engine compartments and a few office spaces. There were airlocks at each end of the containment hull and a negative atmospheric pressure was maintained in the unit. The negative pressure was to ensure that any gasses released into the prototype wouldn't escape into the local environment. It was a large cylinder painted green and was called "The Green Weenie" by the students stationed there.
References
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Aircraft carrier
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