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Here’s a list of sunken U.S. and Soviet nuclear submarines. And by “nuclear”, it means propulsion/reactor, not just nuclear warheads. https://en.m.wikipedia.o
by gricardo99 8y ago
Here’s a list of sunken U.S. and Soviet nuclear submarines. And by “nuclear”, it means propulsion/reactor, not just nuclear warheads.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sunken_nuclear_submarines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sunken_nuclear_subma...
- fovc 8y ago""" Of the nine sinkings, two were caused by fires, two by explosions of their weapons systems, two by flooding, one by bad weather, and one by scuttling due to a damaged nuclear reactor. """
- garmaine 8y agoWell we all know the one scuttled due to damaged reactor was actually a cover story for defecting with first strike technology to the Americans...
- RugnirViking 8y agoand yet despite that, we have yet to see significant effects on any of our daily lives from any of it.
- olivermarks 8y agoThat we know of
- garmaine 8y agoThe sites are well studied.
- mixmastamyk 8y agoEffects would be on sea life far removed from our daily lives. Seafood can be imported from other locations.
- hombre_fatal 8y agoWell that's a glib way of evaluating anything. I'd be concerned about the impact on sea life here. School shootings in the USA and ISIS beheadings don't affect my daily life, either.
- manfredo 8y agoAnd as far as I can tell, none if those nuclear reactors have been leaking radioactive material. The fact that close to a dozen nuclear power plants have been sent to the bottom of the ocean and have maintained their integrity is testament to just how safe nuclear power is when implemented correctly.
- raphinou 8y agoBut how long will the containment stay effective, and will it be effective longer than the nuclear activity and risk it contains?
- manfredo 8y agoThese subs are continuously monitored. Articles on the internet say Kursk had a minor leak that was quickly repaired, without coming close to any health concerns. Remember nuclear pressure vessels are subject to some of the most harsh conditions when in operation. They're built to withstand contact with extremely hot water under pressure. Will salt water eventually corrode through it? Maybe. But remember energy through fossil fuels and organic matter kill 3 and 4 million people per year respectively. Those concerned with nuclear safety often fall into the fallacy of letting perfect be the enemy of good. The best solution is the least-bad solution.
- kenneth 8y agoKeep in mind we've also blown up 500+ nuclear bombs including almost 10 underwater. Not a great idea in hindsight, but overall we didn't experience any major problems as a result. Seems like even in the worst and extremely unlikely scenario of full detonation, we'd still be fine.
- vilhelm_s 8y agoThe scale is a little different though. Say a 300MW submarine reactor runs for 10 years, the energy produced is about 20 megatons. The energy in a bomb might be 400 kt, half of it from fission, so the reactor will contain a hundred times more spent fuel.
- baybal2 8y agoThere are no diesel electric ballistic missile submarines, with only two probable exceptions being North Korea and Israel