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A nuclear reactor must always stay "on". This leaves a very minute level of sound that can be picked up using special modern sensor equipment. A diesel motor o
by missedthecue 7y ago
A nuclear reactor must always stay "on". This leaves a very minute level of sound that can be picked up using special modern sensor equipment.
A diesel motor on the other hand can be shut off completely and on demand, and the submarine can run off their battery which is completely silent.
- HeWhoLurksLate 7y agoAlso, nuke subs can (and do) leak radioactivity into the water. IIRC- and I don't have a source for this (might've been thedrive?)- Russia has radiation-detecting equipment onboard their subs that helps them in their hunt to find U.S. subs.
- agumonkey 7y agoso nuclear subs reactors can never be turned off in operation ?
- missedthecue 7y agoNot the cooling equipment that ensures they don't have a meltdown. Those must stay on all day every day.
- agumonkey 7y agooh obviously ... #facepalm
- avianlyric 7y agoCan’t talk specifically about nuclear subs. But in a normal nuclear reactor once it’s taken sub-critical (fission chain reaction “stops”) still puts out a significant amount of heat. The reactor may be sub-critical but the fuel still experiences some nuclear decay and puts off quite a bit off heat in the process. You need to continually monitor this and run cooling equipment, otherwise Bad Things happen. Interestingly this effect is used in the nuclear “batteries” in some space projects like the Mars rover, Curiosity.
- agumonkey 7y agooh interesting http://www.about-robots.com/curiosity-rover-nuclear-battery.html http://www.about-robots.com/curiosity-rover-nuclear-battery....