4 ms·

The other obvious advantage to having a light water reactor on a submarine is that water is something you can easily find a lot of out in the ocean.

• ansible 14y ago
  The other obvious advantage to having a light water reactor on a submarine is that water is something you can easily find a lot of out in the ocean. Well, you have to at least de-salinate the water and filter it before you use it in the reactor. If, in an emergency, you need to pump in salt water, you're going to ruin the equipment via corrosion. The movie 'K-19 The Widowmaker' got into this a bit.
  • andrewflnr 14y ago
    If, in an emergency, you need to pump in salt water, you're going to ruin the equipment via corrosion. Well, yeah, but is that any worse than if you have a different reactor design? Considering that, in a meltdown scenario, corroded equipment is not your biggest problem, it seems you would want to at least have the option. But most of what I know about subs comes from reading "The Hunt for Red October".
  • jbcor 14y ago
    That's true only if you needed to replace water in the primary loop, but that's not likely. Seawater is only in the 3rd outer condenser loop in a PWR design.