5 ms·
> The diesel-powered carrier needs to refuel every few weeks, while nuclear-powered carrier needs to refuel every 20 years. True, but while refuelling only tak
by qayxc 6y ago
> The diesel-powered carrier needs to refuel every few weeks, while nuclear-powered carrier needs to refuel every 20 years.
True, but while refuelling only takes hours, ROH operations on a naval reactor are usually scheduled to last 46 months [edit] and cost several billion dollars [/edit].
That's just insanity :D
- patmorgan23 6y agoA lot of that can be reduced by innovative designs, such as having a modular reactor when you can slide out the vessel(or some other sub set of the reactor, not a nuclear engineer here) with the spent fuel and slide in a new one. Then you can refuel the old vessel to be ready for the next swap. You can gain economics of scale if you build a lot of plants in a region with the same modular design and have a central refueling facility. (yes I know I switch from ships to plants, same benefits accrue though)
- indymike 6y agoCarriers typical undergo a service life extension overhaul (think overhaul the whole ship, stem to stern) in conjunction with refueling. The 46 month figure is for a RCOH (Refueling and Complex OverHaul). Subs can and are refueled much more quickly (and in many cases more often).