Marine Nuclear Power: 1939 – 2018 Part 2A: United States - Submarines Peter Lobner July 2018 1 Foreword In 2015, I compiled the first edition of this resource document to support a presentation I made in August 2015 to The Lyncean Group of San Diego (www.lynceans.org) commemorating the 60th anniversary of the world’s first “underway on nuclear power” by USS Nautilus on 17 January 1955. That presentation to the Lyncean Group, “60 years of Marine Nuclear Power: 1955 – 2015,” was my attempt to tell a complex story, starting from the early origins of the US Navy’s interest in marine nuclear propulsion in 1939, resetting the clock on 17 January 1955 with USS Nautilus’ historic first voyage, and then tracing the development and exploitation of marine nuclear power over the next 60 years in a remarkable variety of military and civilian vessels created by eight nations. In July 2018, I finished a complete update of the resource document and changed the title to, “Marine Nuclear Power: 1939 – 2018.” What you have here is Part 2A: United States - Submarines. The other parts are: Part 1: Introduction Part 2B: United States - Surface Ships Part 3A: Russia - Submarines Part 3B: Russia - Surface Ships & Non-propulsion Marine Nuclear Applications Part 4: Europe & Canada Part 5: China, India, Japan and Other Nations Part 6: Arctic Operations 2 Foreword This resource document was compiled from unclassified, open sources in the public domain. I acknowledge the great amount of work done by others who have published material in print or posted information on the internet pertaining to international marine nuclear propulsion programs, naval and civilian nuclear powered vessels, naval weapons systems, and other marine nuclear applications. My resource document contains a great deal of graphics from many sources. Throughout the document, I have identified all of the sources for these graphics. If you have any comments or wish to identify errors in this document, please send me an e-mail to: [email protected]. I hope you find this informative, useful, and different from any other single document on this subject. Best regards, Peter Lobner July 2018 3 Marine Nuclear Power: 1939 – 2018 Part 2A: United States - Submarines Table of Contents Section Page Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US …………………............ 6 US current nuclear vessel fleet …………………………………………………………………………. 26 US naval nuclear infrastructure …………………………………………………………………………. 31 Use of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in US naval reactors……………………………….. 81 US submarine reactors and prototype facilities …………………………………………………. 93 US Navy nuclear-powered submarines ………………………………………………………………. 131 Nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) ……………………………………………. 134 Submarine-launched torpedoes, anti-submarine missiles & mines …………. 247 Systems to augment submarine operational capabilities ………………………… 270 Nuclear-powered strategic ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) ……………………. 284 Submarine-launched strategic ballistic missiles (SLBMs)………………………… 327 Nuclear-powered guided missile submarines (SSGN) …………………………………… 351 Cruise missiles and other tactical guided missiles …………………………………. 369 Nuclear-powered special operations submarines ………………………………………….. 391 4 Marine Nuclear Power: 1939 – 2018 Refer to Part 2B, United States Surface Ships, for the following content related to US marine nuclear power: US Navy nuclear-powered surface ships Naval nuclear vessel decommissioning and nuclear waste management US civilian marine nuclear vessels and reactors US marine nuclear power trends 5 Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US 6 Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US 17 March 1939: Enrico Fermi briefed the Navy Department on the current state of nuclear fission research and prospects for its application in weapons and power generation. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) physicist and head of the Mechanics and Electricity Division, Ross Gunn, attended this meeting. Later in March 1939, Gunn, with support from the Director of NRL and the head of the Navy’s Bureau of Steam Engineering (a predecessor of BuShips), received funding and initiated an investigation into uranium and nuclear propulsion. This was seven months before the Manhattan Project was established. June 1939: In a memo to the director of NRL, Ross Gunn reported: “Under certain special circumstances of bombardment by neutrons, the heavy element uranium dissociates into two other elements with the evolution of tremendous amounts of energy which may be converted directly into heat and used in a flash boiler steam plant. Such a source of energy does not depend on the oxidation of organic material and therefore does not require that oxygen Dr. Ross Gunn. Source: NRL be carried down in the submarine if uranium is used as a power source. This is a tremendous military advantage and would enormously increase the range and military effectiveness of a submarine.” 7 Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US 2 December 1942: A team led by Enrico Fermi established the first controlled, self-sustained nuclear chain reaction in Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1). During WW II: Ross Gunn was a member of the Navy’s Uranium Committee, and, with Philip Abelson, focused on developing the thermal diffusion process for uranium enrichment. mid-1944: Art Snell’s physics experiments at the X-10 reactor in Oak Ridge confirmed that Alvin Weinberg’s concept for a water-moderated, enriched uranium reactor could be made to chain react. August 1944: General Leslie Groves (Director of the Manhattan Project) appointed a committee headed by Dr. Richard C. Tolman, vice chairman of the National Defense Research Committee, to make recommendations on a post-war policy for the development of atomic energy. Rear Admiral E.W. Mills, assistant chief of BuShips was a committee member. In November 1944, the Tolman Committee met at NRL with Ross Gunn, Philip Abelson and NRL director Rear Admiral A.H. von Keuren, who advocated for development of nuclear submarines. In December 1944, the Toleman Committee’s final report urged the government “to initiate and push, as an urgent project, research and development studies to provide power from nuclear sources for the propulsion of naval vessels.” Dr. Richard C. Tolman circa 1945. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/ 8 Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US 18 September 1944: Alvin Weinberg first described the basis for a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), with ordinary water as both coolant and moderator operating at high pressure, and producing steam for power production. Late 1945: After WW II, Gunn resumed his work on the use of nuclear power in submarines. At a nuclear symposium organized by Gunn and held at NRL on 19 Nov 1945, papers were presented describing the use of nuclear propulsion in naval vessels, particularly submarines, and even raised the prospects of ballistic missiles launched from submarines. Further Navy access to nuclear research was hindered by General Leslie Grove, who was unwilling to release information to anyone outside the Manhattan District without Dr. Alvin Weinberg. Presidential authorization. Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory 14 March 1946: Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal sent a letter to Secretary of War Robert Patterson stating the Navy’s desire to undertake the engineering of atomic power for ship propulsion and assume responsibility for the program. Secretary Patterson replied that the Manhattan District had taken the first steps toward developing an atomic pile (the Oak Ridge Daniels Pile) and that the best and most rapid method for initiating a Navy program was to assign Navy personnel to the Manhattan District. 9 Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US Early 1946: Abelson led a small team at Clinton Laboratories (Oak Ridge, TN) that investigated the feasibility of replacing the diesel and battery power system with a nuclear power plant within the physical constraints of a modern conventional submarine; specifically a advanced German Type XXVI. Abelson presented the results in the report, “The Atomic Energy Submarine,” dated 28 March 1946. Abelson concluded that it was feasible to construct an atomic power plant of a size and output suitable for ship propulsion. This marked the first reported Navy interest in liquid metal coolants for reactors: "Thermal energy generated in the atomic 'pile' would be transferred to liquid sodium-potassium (KNa) alloy recirculated through the pile," states Abelson. "This heat would drive a steam turbine...and the pile, together with its shielding and the KNa heat exchanger, would be located outside the pressure hull along the keel of the submarine. It would be necessary for the pile to be a cube that could conform to the Dr. Philip Abelson. Source: NRL streamline shape of the hull. This arrangement would allow for convenient maintenance and replacement in drydock.” April 1946: NRL forwarded this report to the Bureau of Ships. 10 The Gunn-Abelson 1946 submarine nuclear propulsion plant design concept Source: Drawing by Philbeck in N. Polmar, “Atomic Submarines,” D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1963, p. 68 11 Timeline for development of marine nuclear power in the US 10 April 1946: Alvin Weinberg and F. H. Murray (Oak Ridge, Clinton Laboratory) publish, “High- pressure water as a heat-transfer medium in nuclear power plants,” in which the design characteristics of a water cooled and moderated pressurized- water reactor (PWR) were presented.