The Development of Nuclear Propulsion in the Royal Navy, 1946-1975
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University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2019 The Development of Nuclear Propulsion in the Royal Navy, 1946-1975 Jones, Gareth Michael http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/15110 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR PROPULSION IN THE ROYAL NAVY: 1946-1975 by GARETH MICHAEL JONES A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Humanities and Performing Arts September 2019 Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent. Acknowledgements To write a nuclear history is a difficult undertaking due to the secrecy surrounding the subject matter. It would have been more difficult without the introduction to many people involved in the nascent days of the Royal Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme who gave generously of their time and, on occasions, hospitality. First and foremost, I offer my sincere gratitude to Rear Admiral Steve Lloyd CBE, who listened to my initial thoughts and supported my research from the start. Rear Admiral Lloyd subsequently introduced me to Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill who in turn introduced me to Rear Admiral Peter (Spam) Hammersley, Captain Colin Farley-Sutton RN Ret’d, Captain John Jacobsen RN Ret’d and Commander Roger Berry RN Ret’d, I was later introduced to former CPO W. (Baz) Bowyer. I thank them all for answering my numerous correspondences, for their advice and their unfailing support for the thesis. My sincere gratitude goes to Commodore Mark Adams RN, Director Nuclear Propulsion (DNP), for his support and granting me privileged access to unreleased files held at his offices at MoD Abbey Wood. Members of DNP’s staff meriting an expression of gratitude include DNP’s former Secretary, Mrs Sandy Grinnall for organising my visits and finding me a desk to work from, Ms Aimee Pugh for dealing with subsequent queries and Mr Paul Bolt, DNP’s Security Information Policy Manager, for his advice. My supervisor and Director of Studies, Dr. Harry Bennett has my deep gratitude for his light touch, wide knowledge of naval history and gratefully received advice and support. I also offer my deep gratitude to Dr Elaine Murphy for her encouragement, support and advice. Final thanks go to all my friends for their support but especially my “student widow” wife, Philomena, for her love, encouragement and understanding over the past six years. Author’s Declaration At no time during registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been registered for any other University award, without prior agreement of the Doctoral College Quality Sub-Committee. Work submitted for this research degree at the University of Plymouth has not formed part of any other degree either at the University of Plymouth or at another establishment. Word count of main body of thesis……….81,194 Signed………………………………………. G. M. Jones M.A. Date: September 2019 Gareth Michael Jones The Development of Nuclear Propulsion in the Royal Navy: 1946-1975 Abstract This thesis covers the development of nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy from the first proposal in 1946 to the start-up of the last core improvement for the first submarine reactor power plant PWR 1 in December 1974. There are three topics: Political, what problems were encountered in transferring nuclear knowledge from the US in the post- war period and what support was there for the development of nuclear propulsion? Militarily, what was the requirement to develop nuclear propulsion and why submarines in particular? Technical, were the problems associated with nuclear energy fully appreciated, did the UK have the technical and engineering capability to develop nuclear propulsion? Primary research concentrated on the National Archives; research was also conducted on unreleased files relevant to the period held by Director Nuclear Propulsion. A number of retired naval officers involved in the early stages of nuclear propulsion development gave interviews, copies of their papers and were generally enthusiastic to assist with any queries. Visits were paid to the archives of CND at the London School of Economics and the Broadlands (Mountbatten) Archives at Southampton University. Secondary research was conducted at the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the British Library, Plymouth Central Library, Plymouth University Library and using accredited online resources. Information pertaining to, the Royal Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme (NNPP) is covered by the Official Secrets Act and the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) 1958. Due to the nature of the subject matter very little has been written on the topic of the Royal Navy’s development of nuclear propulsion. Having recently written a history of the submarine service since World War II, Peter Hennessy and James Jinks naturally included a chapter on the Royal Navy’s adoption of nuclear propulsion in The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945, (2015). However, the chapter, ‘A New Epoch’: Towards the Nuclear Age, is focussed on UK attempts during the 1950s to secure US collaboration. There is no technical investigation of the Royal Navy’s nuclear reactor programme during this era nor of the reactor core improvements that resulted from the purchase of the S5W reactor under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement. The Silent Deep contains no references to any United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority files held at the National Archive and perpetuates the errors contained in Philip Ziegler’s biography of Mountbatten which stem from Mountbatten’s draft (MB1/K208A) which he forwarded to Captain (Rear Admiral) Peter Hammersley for comment; see Mountbatten Corrections in chapter four. Apart from the political considerations and military motives for developing nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy, this thesis primarily focusses on the technical problems to be overcome by all participants in the Royal Navy’s development of nuclear propulsion. Therefore, this thesis adds considerably to the historiography of nuclear propulsion and of Royal Navy submarines in particular. Contents Glossary Dramatis Personae Chronology Technical Definitions Introduction 1 I Overview II Chapters III Literature Review IV Nuclear Historiography V The Nuclear Submarine in Context VI Summary Chapter 1 Improving the Submersible 24 I Introduction of World War II Submarine Developments II The Soviet Submarine Threat III Conversions to “Fast Battery Drive” IV HTP and Air Independent Engines V The Discovery of Nuclear Fission and its Application to Submarines VI Discussions on the Nuclear “Engine” Chapter 2 The Nuclear Option 48 I Acquiring an Experienced Team II Harwell and the Admiralty III Initial Considerations IV The Mark I Enriched Reactor V Metropolitan-Vickers and the Problem of Scale VI The End of the Beginning Chapter 3 The Pressurised Water Reactor 88 I The Reactor Engineering Challenge II The Brontosaurus in the Museum: Quality Assurance III Industry Joins the Project IV Miracle Metals V The Fuel Element Decision VI Neptune: The Zero Energy Experimental Reactor Chapter 4 HMS/m Dreadnought 122 I Admiral Hyman G. Rickover USN II What Price Exchange of Information III The Offers to Purchase a US Submarine Reactor IV Choices and Decisions V Mountbatten Corrections VI Management and Establishment of the Dreadnought Project Team VII Purchase of the S5W Reactor VIII Final Adjustments Chapter 5 Nuclear Training and Dounreay 173 I Training Facilities II Off to School III Practical Training and Jason IV Dounreay Submarine Prototype (DS/MP) V Dounreay’s Future Questioned VI A Very Serious Snag VII HMS/m Valiant Chapter 6 Future Developments 209 I Core Development II Amended Access Agreements III Core Development Programme (CORDEP) IV Nuclear Development (Submarines) NuDe(S) V NUDES II – FLIP – ANP VI Core Z VII Reporting the Nuclear Navy VIII Project Cost Conclusions 238 I Political Problems and Indifference II Technical Considerations III The Military Situation IV The Nuclear Propulsion Legacy V Research in the “Secret (Nuclear) State” Appendices 250 Appendix 1 Royal Navy Nuclear-Powered Submarines Appendix 2 Initial Dreadnought ME Crew List of Figures 253 Figure 1 Pressurized-Water Naval Nuclear Propulsion System Bibliography 254 Glossary: ADEB Admiralty Development Establishment Barrow AEO Admiralty Engineer Overseer AERE Atomic Energy Research Establishment (Harwell) AEX Atomic Energy Executive AFO Admiralty Fleet Order AGR Advanced Gas Reactor ANP Advanced Nuclear Plant APWP Atomic Propulsion Working Party ARL Admiralty Research Laboratory ARTE Admiralty Reactor Test Establishment ASW Anti-Submarine Warfare AWRE Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (Aldermaston) BJSM British Joint Services Mission (Washington) BSRA British Shipbuilders Research Association CBNS Commander British Navy Staff (Washington) CORDEP Core Development