Nuclear Submarine for Dummies

I am not much of a technical guy but I am trying to write this guide for dummies.

If you like it the do comment

What is a nuclear submarine?

A nuclear Submarine is a submarine which uses  nuclear material to generate power for propulsion rather than conventional resources like diesel and Fuel cells

wiki

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by nuclear reactor technology, as opposed to a more conventional submarine layout consisting of air-breathing diesel engines which are used to charge batteries for underwater running. The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over conventional submarines are large; nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to frequently surface, as is necessary for conventional submarines; the large amounts of power generated by a nuclear reactor allow nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long durations; and the long interval between refuellings grant a range limited only by consumables such as food – current generations of nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25-year lifespans. Conversely, the limited power stored in electric batteries means that even the most advanced conventional submarine can only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed; recent advances in Air-independent propulsion have eroded this disadvantage somewhat. The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few states have fielded nuclear submarines.

Okay so how is this better than others?

1.A nuclear Submarine can stay under water for months at time .

2.It is very quite as it does not have a engine to generate power but a  nuclear reactor which reduces the noise and hence remains undetectable to enemy sonar

3.Due to its ability to stay under water for long time they avoid getting tracked by satellites when they make perth.

Cool …so what is the big fuss in making them  ?

Making a Nuclear submarine is not easy.This is because you need to miniaturize a  nuclear power reactor.

What is a nuclear power  reactor ?

Flow diagram of a Nuclear reactor

Looks simple but on a realistic scale

it looks like this.

Nuclear power plant

Not so easy now huh!

Now we have to miniaturize a nuclear power plant to the size of a 100sq.meter, with all the safety features intact.

The electricity generated from this nuclear reactor is fed to the propeller and the propeller propels the submarine.

So India has made one Huh!

Well yes, Indian has made one and it is named as INS ARIHANT (Destroyer of the enemies)

Is it operational yet?

No not yet.

As this one is the first one made by India till now it will undergo rigorous testing by the navy before it is inducted

So just one?

NO there are two more being made and one being leased from Russia for 10year.

That makes a total of 5?

Yes

Schematics

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