Nuclear power plant reactors for nuclear submarines. How a nuclear submarine works Power of a nuclear submarine reactor

Silent "predators" of the depths of the sea have always terrified the enemy, both in war and in peacetime. Countless myths are associated with submarines, which, however, is not surprising given that they are created in conditions of special secrecy. But today we know enough about the general ...

The principle of operation of the submarine

The submarine immersion and ascent system includes ballast and auxiliary tanks, as well as connecting pipelines and fittings. The main element here is the main ballast tanks, due to the filling of which with water the main buoyancy reserve of the submarine is extinguished. All tanks are included in the bow, stern and middle group... They can be filled and purged one at a time or at the same time.

The sub has trim tanks that are necessary to compensate for the longitudinal displacement of the cargo. Ballast between trimmed tanks is transferred using compressed air or pumped using special pumps. Trimming - this is how the technique is called, the purpose of which is to "balance" the submerged submarine.

Nuclear submarines are divided into generations. The first (50s) is characterized by a relatively high noise level and imperfection of hydroacoustic systems. The second generation was built in the 60s and 70s: the shape of the hull was optimized to increase speed. The boats of the third are larger, they also have equipment for electronic warfare. The fourth generation nuclear submarines are characterized by an unprecedented low noise level and advanced electronics. The appearance of the fifth generation boats is being worked out today.

An essential component of any submarine is the air system. Immersion, surfacing, waste disposal - all this is done with compressed air. The latter is stored under high pressure on board the submarine: this way it takes up less space and allows you to store more energy. High pressure air is in special cylinders: as a rule, a senior mechanic monitors its amount. Compressed air is replenished upon ascent. This is a long and laborious procedure that requires special attention. In order for the crew of the boat to have something to breathe, air regeneration units are placed on board the submarine, which make it possible to obtain oxygen from the seawater.

Premier League: what they are

The nuclear submarine has a nuclear power plant (from where, in fact, the name came from). Nowadays, many countries also operate diesel-electric submarines (PL). The level of autonomy of nuclear submarines is much higher, and they can perform a wider range of tasks. The Americans and the British have stopped using non-nuclear submarines altogether, while the Russian submarine fleet has a mixed composition. In general, only five countries have nuclear submarines. In addition to the United States and the Russian Federation, the "club of the elite" includes France, England and China. The rest of the maritime powers use diesel-electric submarines.

The future of the Russian submarine fleet lies in two new nuclear-powered submarines. We are talking about project 885 Yasen multipurpose boats and Borey 955 strategic missile submarines. Eight boats of project 885 will be built, and the number of Boreyevs will reach seven. The Russian submarine fleet cannot be compared with the American one (the United States will have dozens of new submarines), but it will occupy the second line of the world ranking.

Russian and American boats differ in their architecture. The United States makes its nuclear submarines single-hull (the hull both resists pressure and has a streamlined shape), and Russia makes its submarines double-hull: in this case, there is an inner, rough, strong hull and an outer streamlined lightweight. On the Project 949A Antey nuclear submarines, which included the infamous Kursk, the distance between the hulls is 3.5 m. It is believed that double-hull submarines are more tenacious, while single-hull submarines, other things being equal, have less weight. In single-hull boats, the main ballast tanks, which provide ascent and immersion, are inside a strong hull, and for double-hull boats, they are inside a light outer one. Every domestic submarine must survive if any compartment is completely flooded with water - this is one of the main requirements for submarines.

In general, there is a tendency to switch to single-hull nuclear submarines, since the latest steel, from which the hulls of American boats are made, can withstand colossal loads at depth and provide the submarine with a high level of survivability. We are talking, in particular, about high-strength steel grade HY-80/100 with a yield strength of 56-84 kgf / mm. Obviously, even more advanced materials will be used in the future.

There are also boats with a mixed type hull (when the light hull only partially overlaps the main one) and multihull (several strong hulls inside the light). The latter includes the Russian Project 941 submarine missile cruiser - the largest nuclear submarine in the world. Inside its lightweight body are five sturdy bodies, two of which are the main ones. For the manufacture of durable cases, titanium alloys were used, and for light ones - steel. It is covered with a non-resonant anti-radar soundproofing rubber coating weighing 800 tons. This coating alone weighs more than the American nuclear submarine NR-1. Project 941 is truly a giant submarine. Its length is 172, and its width is 23 m. 160 people are on board.

You can see how different nuclear submarines are and how different their "content" is. Now let's take a closer look at several domestic submarines: Project 971, 949A and 955 boats. All of these are powerful and modern submarines serving in the Russian Navy. Boats belong to three different types Submarines, which we talked about above:

Nuclear submarines are divided by purpose:

· SSBN (Strategic Missile Submarine Cruiser). As part of the nuclear triad, these submarines carry nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. The main targets of such ships are military bases and enemy cities. The SSBN includes the new Russian nuclear submarine 955 Borey. In America, this type of submarine is called SSBN (Ship Submarine Ballistic Nuclear): this includes the most powerful of these submarines - the Ohio-class submarine. To accommodate the entire deadly arsenal on board, SSBNs are designed taking into account the requirements of a large internal volume. Their length often exceeds 170 m, which is noticeably longer than the length of multipurpose submarines.

PLAT (nuclear torpedo submarine). Such boats are also called multipurpose. Their purpose: the destruction of ships, other submarines, tactical targets on the ground and the collection of intelligence. They are smaller SSBNs and have better speed and mobility. PLATs can use torpedoes or precision cruise missiles. Such nuclear submarines include the American Los Angeles or the Soviet / Russian Project 971 Shchuka-B MPLATRK.

The American Seawulf is considered the most advanced multipurpose nuclear submarine. Her main feature- the highest level of stealth and deadly weapons on board. One such submarine carries up to 50 Harpoon or Tomahawk missiles. There are also torpedoes. Due to the high cost, the US Navy received only three of these submarines.

SSGN (nuclear submarine with cruise missiles). This is the smallest group of modern nuclear submarines. This includes the Russian 949A Antey and some American Ohio converted into cruise missile carriers. The concept of SSGNs has something in common with multipurpose nuclear submarines. Submarines of the SSGN type, however, are the largest - they are large floating underwater platforms with high-precision weapons. In the Soviet / Russian navy, these boats are also referred to as “aircraft carrier killers”.

Inside the submarine

It is difficult to consider in detail the design of all the main types of nuclear submarines, but it is quite possible to analyze the layout of one of these submarines. It will be the project 949A Antey submarine, a landmark (in every sense) for the Russian fleet. To increase survivability, the creators duplicated many of the important components of this nuclear submarine. Such boats received a pair of reactors, turbines and propellers. Failure of one of them, according to the idea, should not be fatal for the boat. The submarine compartments are divided by inter-compartment bulkheads: they are designed for a pressure of 10 atmospheres and are communicated by hatches that can be sealed if necessary. Not all domestic nuclear submarines have so many compartments. The Project 971 multipurpose nuclear submarine, for example, is divided into six compartments, and the new Project 955 SSBN is divided into eight.

The infamous Kursk belongs to the boats of Project 949A. This submarine died in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000. All 118 crew members on board became victims of the disaster. Many versions of what happened were put forward: the most likely of all is the explosion of a 650 mm torpedo stored in the first compartment. According to the official version, the tragedy was due to the leakage of a component of the torpedo's propellant, namely hydrogen peroxide.

The nuclear submarine of Project 949A has a very advanced (by the standards of the 80s) apparatus, including the MGK-540 "Skat-3" hydroacoustic system and many other systems. The boat is also equipped with an automated navigation system "Symphony-U" with increased accuracy, increased range and a large amount of processed information. Most of the information about all these complexes is kept secret.

Compartments of nuclear submarine project 949A "Antey":

First compartment:
It is also called bow or torpedo. It is here that the torpedo tubes are located. The boat has two 650-mm torpedo tubes and four 533-mm torpedo tubes, and in total there are 28 torpedoes on board the submarine. The first compartment consists of three decks. The combat stock is stored on the racks intended for this, and the torpedoes are fed into the apparatus using a special mechanism. There are also batteries, which are separated from the torpedoes by special decks for safety reasons. The first compartment usually has five crew members.

Second compartment:
This compartment on submarines of projects 949A and 955 (and not only on them) plays the role of "the brain of the boat." It is here that the central control panel is located, and it is from here that the submarine is controlled. Here are the consoles of hydroacoustic systems, climate controllers and navigation satellite equipment. Serving in the compartment of 30 crew members. From it you can get into the cabin of the nuclear submarine, designed to monitor the sea surface. There are also retractable devices: periscopes, antennas and radars.

Third compartment:
The third is the electronic compartment. Here, in particular, are the multidisciplinary communication antennas and many other systems. The equipment of this compartment allows you to receive target designation, including from space. After processing, the information received is entered into the ship's combat information and control system. We add that the submarine rarely makes contact, so as not to be unmasked.

Fourth compartment:
This compartment is residential. Here the crew not only sleeps, but also spends their free time. There is a sauna, gym, showers and a common room for joint relaxation. There is a room in the compartment that allows you to relieve emotional stress - for this, for example, there is an aquarium with fish. In addition, in the fourth compartment there is a galley, or, speaking simple language, the kitchen of the nuclear submarine.

Fifth compartment:
This is where the power-generating diesel generator is located. You can also see an electrolysis plant for air regeneration, high-pressure compressors, shore power board, diesel fuel and oil reserves.

5 bis:
This room is needed for decontamination of crew members who worked in the reactor compartment. It is about removing radioactive substances from surfaces and reducing the level of contamination with radioactive substances. Due to the fact that there are two fifth compartments, confusion often occurs: some sources claim that the nuclear submarine has ten compartments, while others speak of nine. Even despite the fact that the last compartment is the ninth, there are ten of them in total on the nuclear submarine (including 5 bis).

Sixth compartment:
This compartment, one might say, is located in the very center of the nuclear submarine. It is of particular importance, because it is here that there are two OK-650V nuclear reactors with a capacity of 190 MW each. The reactor belongs to the OK-650 series - a series of pressurized water nuclear reactors using thermal neutrons. Role nuclear fuel performs highly enriched in 235-y isotope uranium dioxide. The compartment has a volume of 641 m³. There are two corridors above the reactor allowing access to other parts of the nuclear submarine.

Seventh compartment:
It is also called turbine. The volume of this compartment is 1116 m³. This room is intended for the main switchboard; power plants; emergency control panel for the main power plant; as well as a number of other devices that ensure the movement of the submarine.

Eighth compartment:
This compartment is very similar to the seventh, and it is also called the turbine compartment. The volume is 1072 m³. The power plant can be seen here; turbines that drive the submarine propellers; a turbine generator that supplies the boat with electricity, and water desalination plants.

Ninth compartment:
It is an extremely small shelter compartment with a volume of 542 m³ and an escape hatch. This compartment, in theory, will allow the crew members to survive in the event of a disaster. There are six inflatable rafts (each for 20 people), 120 gas masks and life kits for individual ascent. In addition, the compartment contains: steering system hydraulics; high pressure air compressor; electric motor control station; lathe; combat post of backup rudder control; shower room and food supply for six days.

Armament

Let us consider separately the armament of the Project 949A nuclear submarine. In addition to torpedoes (which we have already discussed), the boat carries 24 P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles. These are long-range missiles that can fly along a combined trajectory of up to 625 km. For targeting, the P-700 has an active radar guidance head.

The missiles are in special containers between the light and strong hulls of the nuclear submarine. Their location roughly corresponds to the central compartments of the boat: containers with missiles are on both sides of the submarine, 12 on each side. All of them are turned forward from the vertical at an angle of 40-45 °. Each of these containers has a special cover that slides out during a rocket launch.

P-700 "Granit" cruise missiles are the basis of the Project 949A submarine arsenal. Meanwhile, there is no real experience in the use of these missiles in combat, so it is difficult to judge the combat effectiveness of the complex. Tests have shown that due to the speed of the rocket (1.5-2.5 M), it is very difficult to intercept it. However, not everything is so simple. Above land, the missile is not capable of flying at low altitude, and therefore is an easy target for enemy air defenses. At sea, the efficiency indicators are higher, but it is worth saying that the American carrier formation (namely, a missile was created to combat them) has excellent air defense cover.

This arrangement of weapons is not typical for nuclear submarines. On the American submarine Ohio, for example, ballistic or cruise missiles are positioned in shafts running in two longitudinal rows behind a retractable fence. But the multipurpose Seawulf launches cruise missiles from torpedo tubes. Similarly, cruise missiles are launched from the Russian Project 971 Shchuka-B MPLATRK. Of course, all these submarines also carry various torpedoes. The latter are used to destroy submarines and surface ships.

For any country, it is a powerful geopolitical containment mechanism. And the submarine fleet, by its very presence, affects international relations and the escalation of conflicts. If in the 19th century the British border was determined by the sides of its military frigates, then in the 20th century the United States Navy became the leader of the World Ocean. And the Americans played an important role in this.

Paramount importance

The submarine fleet is becoming increasingly important for America. Historically, the territory of the country was limited by water borders, which made it difficult for a covert attack by the enemy. With the advent of modern submarines and submarine-to-air missiles in the world, these borders are becoming increasingly illusory for America.

The aggravated confrontation in international relations with Muslim countries makes the threat to the lives of American citizens real. Iranian Islamists are not abandoning their attempts to acquire submarine-to-air missiles, and this is a threat to all coastal centers of America. And in this case, the destruction will be colossal. Only a similar rival can resist an attack from under the water.

The current US President Donald Trump noted in his first interviews that he intends to further increase the US submarine fleet. But on one condition - a decrease in its cost. This is something that corporations that build American nuclear submarines should ponder. There is already a precedent. After Donald Trump said he would ask Boeing for cheaper fighters, Lockheed Martin cut the cost of the F-35 fighter.

Combat power

Today, US submarines are predominantly nuclear powered. This means that during operations, there will be limitations in combat effectiveness only in the amount of food and water on board. The most numerous class of submarines is Los Angeles. These are boats of the third generation with a displacement of about 7 tons, a submersion depth of up to 300 meters and a cost of about $ 1 million. However, America is currently replacing them with fourth-generation Virginia-class boats, which are better equipped and cost $ 2.7 million. And this price is justified by their combat characteristics.

Combat composition

Today it is the leader in both the number and equipment of naval weapons. The US naval forces include 14 strategic nuclear submarines and 58 multipurpose submarines.

The US military's submarine fleet is equipped with two types of submarines:

• Ocean ballistic boats. Deep-sea submarines, the purpose of which is the delivery of weapons to the point of destination and the release of ballistic missiles. In other words, they are called strategic. Defense weapons are not represented by strong firepower.
• “Boats are hunters”. High-speed boats, the goals and tasks of which are versatile: the delivery of cruise missiles and peacekeeping forces to the conflict zones, a lightning attack and the destruction of enemy forces. Such submarines are called multifunctional. their specificity is speed, maneuverability and stealth.

The beginning of the development of underwater navigation in America begins in the middle of the nineteenth century. The volume of the article does not imply such an array of information. Let's focus on the nuclear arsenal that has developed since the end of World War II. Short review We will conduct the submarine nuclear arsenal of the American Armed Forces, adhering to the chronological principle.

The first experimental atomic

In January 1954, the first American submarine, USS Nautilus, with a displacement of about 4,000 tons and a length of 100 meters, was launched at the Groton shipyard in January 1954. She set out on her maiden voyage a year later. It was the "Nautilus" in 1958 that first passed the North Pole under water, which almost ended in tragedy - the breakdown of the periscope due to the failure of navigation systems. This was an experimental and only multipurpose torpedo boat with a sonar installation in the bow and torpedoes in the rear. The submarine "Barracuda" (1949-1950) showed this location the most successful.

American nuclear submarines owe their appearance to the naval engineer, Rear Admiral Hyman George Rickover (1900-1986).

The next experimental project was the USS Seawolf (SSN-575), also released in a single copy in 1957. It had a reactor with liquid metal as a coolant in the first loop of the reactor.

The first serial atomic

A series of four submarines built in 1956-1957 - "Skate" (USS Skate). They were part of the US armed forces and were decommissioned in the late 1980s.

A series of six boats - "Skipjack" (1959). Until 1964, this was the largest batch. The boats had an "albacore" hull shape and the highest speed before the Los Angeles series.

At the same time (1959-1961) a specialized series was launched nuclear boats in the amount of five - "George Washington". These are boats of the first ballistic project. Each boat had 16 rocket silos for Polaris A-1 missiles. Shooting accuracy was increased by a hygroscopic roll damper, which reduces the amplitude five times at a depth of 50 meters.

This was followed by projects of nuclear submarines for one experimental copy of the Triton, Halibut, Tullibe series. American designers experimented and improved navigation and power systems.

The large series of multipurpose boats that replaced the Skipjack consists of 14 Treaher nuclear submarines, the latter being decommissioned in 1996.

The Benjamin Franklin series are Lafayette-type submarines. At first they were armed with ballistic missiles. In the 70s, they were rearmed with Poseidon missiles and then Trident-1 missiles. Twelve boats of the Benjamin Franklin series in 1960 became part of the fleet of strategic missile carriers, named "41 on the guard of Liberty." All ships of this fleet were named after the figures of American history.

The largest series - USS Sturgeon - of multifunctional nuclear submarines includes 37 submarines, created between 1871 and 1987. A distinctive feature is a reduced noise level and sensors for ice swimming.

Boats serving in the US Navy

From 1976 to 1996, the Navy was equipped with Los Angeles-class multipurpose boats. A total of 62 boats of this series were produced, this is the most numerous series of multi-purpose submarines. Torpedo armament and vertical launchers of Tomahawk-type missiles with homing systems. Nine Los Angeles class boats participated in the 26 MW GE PWR S6G reactors developed by General Electric. It is from this series that the tradition of calling boats by the names of American cities begins. Today in the US Navy 40 boats of this class are on combat service.

The series of strategic nuclear submarines, launched from 1881 to 1997, consists of 18 submarines with ballistic missiles on board - the Ohio series. The submarine of this series is armed with 24 ICBMs with individual guidance. They are armed with 4 torpedo tubes for protection. The Ohio is a submarine that forms the backbone of the US Navy's offensive forces and is at sea 60% of the time.

The last project of the third-generation nuclear submarines of the third generation "Seawulf" (1998-1999). This is the most secret project of the US Navy. It was called "the improved Los Angeles" for its special quietness. He appeared and disappeared unnoticed by radars. The reason is a special sound-insulating coating, the rejection of the propeller in favor of an engine such as a water cannon and the widespread introduction of noise sensors. A tactical speed of 20 knots makes it as noisy as a Los Angeles docked. There are three boats in this series: Seawolf, Connecticut and Jimmy Carter. The latter entered service in 2005, and it is this boat that is operated by the Terminator in the second season of the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This once again confirms the fantastic nature of these boats, both externally and in content. "Jimmy Carter" is also called the "white elephant" among submarines for its size (the boat is 30 meters longer than its counterparts). And according to its characteristics, this submarine can already be considered a submarine.

last generation

The future in submarine construction began in 2000 and is associated with a new class of boats of the USS Virginia class. The first boat of this class SSN-744 was launched and put into operation in 2003.

US Navy submarines of this type are called the weapons depot because of their powerful arsenal, and the "ideal observer", because of the most sophisticated and sensitive sensor systems ever installed on a submarine.

Movement even in relative shallow water is provided by an atomic engine with a nuclear reactor, the plan of which is classified. It is known that the reactor is designed for a service life of up to 30 years. The noise level is reduced due to a system of isolated chambers and a modern design of the power unit with a "jamming" coating.

General performance characteristics boats of the USS Virginia class, of which thirteen have already been put into operation:

• speed up to 34 knots (64 km / h);
• immersion depth is up to 448 meters;
• from 100 to 120 crew members;
• surface displacement - 7.8 tons;
• length up to 200 meters, and width about 10 meters;
• nuclear power plant type GE S9G.

In total, the series provides for the release of 28 Virginia nuclear submarines with the gradual replacement of the Navy's arsenal with fourth-generation submarines.

Michelle Obama's boat

In August last year, at a military shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, 13 USS Virginia class submarines with the tail number SSN -786 and the name Illinois were commissioned. It is named after the home state of the then First Lady Michelle Obama, who took part in its launch in October 2015. The initials of the first lady, according to tradition, are embossed on one of the details of the submarine.

The nuclear submarine Illinois, 115 meters long and with 130 crew members on board, is equipped with an unmanned underwater vehicle for detecting mines, a diving lock and other additional equipment. The purpose of this submarine is to conduct coastal and deep-sea operations.

Instead of the traditional periscope, the boat operates a telescopic system with a TV camera, a laser sensor for infrared observation is installed.

Firepower of the boat: 2 revolving installations of 6 missiles and 12 vertical cruise missiles of the "Tomahawk" class, as well as 4 torpedo tubes and 26 torpedoes.

The total cost of the submarine is $ 2.7 billion.

The prospect of military submarine capabilities

The highest ranks of the US Navy insist on the gradual replacement of diesel-fuel submarines with boats that have practically no restrictions in the conduct of combat operations - with nuclear propulsion systems. The fourth generation of the Virginia nuclear submarine provides for the production of 28 submarines of this class. The gradual replacement of the naval arsenal with fourth-generation boats will increase the rating and combat effectiveness of the American army.

But the design bureaus continue to work and offer their designs to the army.

American landing submarines

Covert landing of troops on enemy territory is the goal of all amphibious operations. After World War II, America had such a technological opportunity. The Bureau of Ships has received an order for a landing submarine. Projects appeared, but the landing troops did not have financial support, and the fleet was not interested in the idea.

Of the seriously considered projects, we can mention the project of the Seaforth Group, which appeared in 1988. The landing submarine S-60 designed by them involves launching into the water at a distance of 50 kilometers from the coast, diving to a depth of 5 meters. At a speed of 5 knots, the submarine reaches the coastline and disembarks 60 paratroopers along retractable bridges at a distance of up to 100 meters from the coast. So far, no one has bought the project.

Time-tested reliability

The oldest submarine in the world, which is still in service today, is the Balao SS 791 Hai Shih (Sea Lion) submarine, which is part of the Taiwan Navy. A WWII American submarine built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard joined the US Navy in 1945. On account of her one military campaign in August 1945 in the Pacific Ocean. After several upgrades, in 1973 she was transferred to Taiwan and became the first operating boat in China.

In January 2017, the press reported that during 18 months of scheduled repairs, the shipyards of the Taiwan International Shipbuilding Corporation "Sea Lion" will carry out general repairs and replacement of navigation equipment. These works will extend the life of the submarine until 2026.

A one-of-a-kind American-made submarine veteran, plans to celebrate its 80th anniversary in combat.

Exceptionally tragic facts

There is no open and public statistics on losses and accidents in the US submarine fleet. However, the same can be said about Russia. Those facts that have become public knowledge will be presented in this chapter.

In 1963, a two-day test campaign ended with the death of the American submarine Thresher. The official cause of the disaster is the ingress of water under the hull of the boat. The damped reactor immobilized the submarine, and she went deep, taking the lives of 112 crew members and 17 civilian specialists. The wreckage of the submarine is at a depth of 2,560 meters. This is the first technological accident of a nuclear submarine.

In 1968, the multipurpose nuclear submarine "Scorpion" (USS Scorpion) disappeared without a trace in the Atlantic Ocean. The official version of the death is the detonation of ammunition. However, even today the mystery of the sinking of this vessel remains a mystery. In 2015, veterans of the US Navy once again asked the government to create a commission to investigate the incident, clarify the number of victims and determine their status.

In 1969, the submarine USS Guitarro with hull number 665 sank curiously. It happened at the quay wall and at a depth of 10 meters. Inconsistency and negligence of instrument calibration specialists led to flooding. Raising and restoring the boat cost the American taxpayer about $ 20 million.

A Los Angeles-class boat that took part in the filming of the movie The Hunt for Red October, on May 14, 1989, in the California coastal area, caught a cable connecting a tug and a barge. The boat made a dive, pulling the tug behind it. Relatives of one tug crew member who died that day received $ 1.4 million in compensation from the Navy.

Introduction
If you carefully study the history of the Soviet Navy, then the quantitative indicators are striking - the Soviet submarine fleet was numerous. At the same time, it is clear that the basis of the Soviet fleet was not super-submarines, but simple and cheap mass-series boats.

From the mid-60s to the early 80s, the construction of three series of project 671- 671, 671RT and 671RTM multipurpose nuclear boats with a total of (15 + 7 + 26) 48 units - made it possible to saturate all ocean fleets with modern submarines. The six hundred and seventy-first series were supplemented by missile carriers of projects 670A and 670M (11 + 6 = 17 units) designed and built at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant in the city of Gorky - small one-reactor ships, considered the quietest boats of the 2nd generation. The fleet also received very specific Lyres - Project 705 high-speed submarines (7 units). This made it possible to create a grouping of 70 modern multipurpose nuclear-powered ships by the mid-70s.

Although the boats were notable for mediocre characteristics, due to their large numbers they provided the combat service of the USSR Navy in all corners of the planet. Note that it is along this path that the United States follows, building a huge series of inexpensive simple boats such as Los Angeles (62 boats), and on this moment- Virginia (plan 30, 11 in service).

The concept of a budget nuclear submarine for the Russian Navy

Academician Spassky, in his article in the Military Parade magazine in 1997, pointed out that Russian fleet about a hundred submarines are needed. Approximately 15 strategic missile carriers, 15-20 missile cruisers with cruise missiles and 30-40 diesel-electric submarines are needed. The rest of the boats (40-50 units) must be nuclear-powered multipurpose.

The problem is that there are no such boats in Russia. The construction of nuclear submarines of project 971 and 945 has been discontinued and it makes no sense to restore it. Project 885 nuclear submarines are being built in a small series - a series of 8 units has been announced by 2020. At the same time, their price - from 30 to 47 billion rubles and the construction time - one boat in 5-8 years does not allow having many such boats. Diesel-electric boats - which are now fashionable to be called non-nuclear - are too small and unable to sail for long periods of time. There are currently no intermediate projects between the 2000-ton boat and the 9500-ton boat.

Talks about the need for such a boat have been going on for a long time, but so far nothing concrete has appeared. For example, variants of the 885 project without a missile compartment were proposed, but it quickly became clear that such a project would not give a reduction in price / increase in series / construction time. It's just that for the same money, the fleet will get the worst boat. A variant of the "Russian Rubis" was also considered - i.e. a small boat with full electric propulsion, however, such proposals were rejected by the French themselves, who are currently building a nuclear submarine of normal size. The European (for example, English) experience is also of no help, it is not able to.

Therefore, I decided to figure out on my own what such a boat should be.

In my opinion, the concept of a budget nuclear submarine should be as follows:

1. To reduce the weight and size characteristics and the cost of a nuclear power plant, we reduce the required full speed from 31-33 to 25 knots, which will reduce the maximum power of the power plant by 2.5 times compared to boats of the 3rd generation. Those. up to 20 thousand hp The fact is that when the boat goes at maximum speed, due to the roar of the water, it loses both stealth and the ability to detect targets. At the same time, reducing the power of the power plant to reduce the weight and spend the saved weight on strengthening the armament. In our case, for the missile compartment with 16 missiles.


2. Refusal from the extreme quantitative duplication of systems, as well as from an increased buoyancy reserve (we will have it in the region of 16%), and a rescue chamber.


3. Reduced compared to boats of the 3rd generation maximum depth diving from 600 to 450 meters, which will reduce the mass of the hull.


4. The one-and-a-half-hull architecture is the same as in Severodvinsk. Single-body architecture has 2 and 3 compartments - living and management. The rest are double-hulled.


5. Armament - combined - UVP for missiles and torpedo tubes for torpedoes. Moreover, the TA of two calibers: large - for combat torpedoes and small - for anti-torpedoes and means of active setting of hydroacoustic jamming.


6. The torpedo tubes have a classic arrangement for the Soviet fleet - in the upper hemisphere in the bow. Since now the boat has not only a spherical antenna in the bow, but also onboard conformal antennas.


7. The boats should be built at second-tier factories in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the construction period for a serial boat is no more than three years, the cost is 18-20 billion rubles.

The device of a nuclear submarine

The multipurpose nuclear submarine of the P-95 project is pre-assigned to combat enemy shipping, ship-to-ship groupings against, under- water-ny-mi boats-ka-mi, on-not-se-nia of strikes on the be-re-go-vy objects-ek-there, on -sta-no-wok, intelligence agency.

Just like on boats of 3 generations, all the main equipment and combat stations are placed in the amor-ty-zi-ro-van-zonal blocs -kah. Amor-ty-zation greatly reduces the acoustic field of the ship, and it also sounds to protect the boat from underwater explosions.

First compartment- torpedo, in its upper-lo-wi-not ras-in-lo-zen-parts of the tor-ped-pod-pa-ra-tov and the whole battle-for- pass on av-to-ma-ti-zi-ro-van-stel-la-zhakh. Under it there is a place with racks of ap-pa-ra-tu-ry radio-electronic-thron-th military-ru-zenia, medium-st-va ven-ti -la-tion and con-di-zio-ni-ro-va-nia from-se-to. Below them are the tru-we and the ak-ku-mu-la-tor-naya pit.

Second and third compartments- management and residential. On the first and second pa-lu-bah ras-po-lo-same-us, the main command post, rub-ki, ap-pa-ra-tu-ra combat-voy in-for-ma- qi-he-but-managing-system-te-we (BI-US); the third and fourth pa-lu-would be for-nya-you zh-mi, general-st-ven-mi and med-di-tsin-ski-mi in-place-mi. In the hold there are all kinds of equipment, the means of con-di-tsio-ni-ro-va-nia and society-co-ra-linen systems. In the second section, all the lifting devices are placed, in the third - a diesel generator.

Fourth compartment- rocket. It contains 4 strong silos in each of which, there are 4 transport and launch containers with cruise missiles. The compartment also contains various equipment and storage rooms.

Fifth compartment- reactor. The reactor itself with its equipment is isolated from the rest of the boat with bio-logical protection. Sa-ma PPU together with systems under-suspension on horse-salt beams, behind-de-lan-ones in the pe-re-bor-ki.

Sixth compartment- turbine. Consists of block-noy pa-ro-tur-bin-noy us-ta-nov-ke and av-to-nom-us-mi tur-bo-ge-ne-ra-to-rum and ho-lo-dil -my-mi-shi-na-mi pa-ro-tur-bin-noy us-ta-nov-ki. The block through amor-ti-for-that-ry stands on the pro-mezhu-exact-noy ra-me, which-that-paradise through the second cass-kad amor-ti-za- to-moat for-cre-p-la-e-Xia to special racks. Also in this compartment there is a reversible trolling electric motor and a clutch that allows the GTZA to be disconnected on a special cushioned platform.

Seventh compartment- auxiliary mechanisms. Through it, there is a va-lo-conduit with the main persistent under-thorn-no-one in the nose and the seal of the rowing va-la in the stern. The compartment is double-pas-lub-ny. Also in it there is a room-pellet from-de-le-ny, in which the ru-le-guides are located, as well as room-pe-li and ends of ball-le-ditch ru-lei.

Above the second and third compartments, there is an enclosure for the wheelhouse and you-movable devices. In the stern there are four stabilizers forming the stern operation. The main entrance to the submarine is through the og-ra-w-de-cube. In addition, there are auxiliary and repair hatches above the first fifth and seventh compartments.

The main propeller is a seven-blade low-speed propeller with a diameter of 4.4 meters. Auxiliary - two retractable speakers with a capacity of 420 hp. providing a speed of up to 5 knots.

It was decided to abandon the installation of water cannons due to lower efficiency and lower efficiency at low speeds.

Power plant and equipment

The boat has characteristics that exceed the requirements for the fourth generation of submarines. Those. corresponds to generation 4+.

To ensure low noise in our project, we are moving away from the traditional for the Soviet fleet thrust to power plants of high power with a low specific weight. Multipurpose boats of the 2nd generation had two reactors of 70 MW each and a turbine with a capacity of 31 thousand horsepower, boats of the third - 190 MW and 50 thousand horsepower. At the same time, it is known that the mass of power plants of the 2nd and 3rd generations is approximately the same and is in the region of 1000 tons

n (according to various estimates, from 900 to 1100 tons) - only the specific gravity differs - the mass of one horsepower.

So, we are deliberately going to reduce the power of the power plant and refuse to unify with power plants of other types. At the same time, in addition to reducing the power, we also simplify the power plant circuit. This approach makes it possible to reduce the dimensions and dimensions of the power plant, increasing the number of weapons, while increasing the specific characteristics - increasing the aggregate reliability. Plus, since the power one is less powerful, it makes less noise, costs less and is more reliable.

The power plant "Kikimora" includes:

• one nuclear reactor with a capacity of 70 MW, with two steam generators, one primary circuit pump on each. Approximately such a scheme of a nuclear reactor is used on American Virginia-class nuclear submarines. The reactor can operate in a low-noise mode with natural circulation at a power of 20% of the nominal, providing steam only to the boat's turbine generator.


• one GTZA with a single-case steam turbine and a planetary gearbox with a shaft power of 20,000 hp. At the same time, when running under the turbine, the propeller electric motor works as a generator, which allows you to turn off the steam generator and go only under one unit.


• reversible propeller motor for low-noise running with a power of 1500 kW. Installed in front of the turbine, i.e. The GTZA can be turned off and go only under the turbine generator and the electric motor, or, on the contrary, the GTZA can be turned on and the turbine generator turned off, then the propeller electric motor works as a generator. Having only one working device eliminates resonances and reduces boat noise.


• one low-noise autonomous turbine generator with a capacity of 3500 kW. In this case, the turbine generator is located along the axis of the boat of the plane of the boat - under the turbine on the same amortized platform, only from below. Such a scheme - ensures the minimization of the noise emitted by the generator and allows you to get the minimum noise when driving under an electric motor in a low-noise mode. At the same time, ATG and GTZA each use their own fittings - condensers, refrigerators, pumps, etc. Including feed water supplies. That allows to increase the reliability of the power plant and the autonomy of the boat.


• one diesel generator with a capacity of 1600 kW. Located in the 3rd compartment. One large battery in the first compartment and 3 small batteries in 2, 3 and 7 compartments.

Electronic weapons

The composition of electronic weapons of weapons is classic. The boat is armed with a sonar complex with several antennas and retractable devices. The reception of information from all devices and the control of weapons is carried out by an integrated combat information and control system.

The submarine's hydroacoustic complex consists of:

• nasal spherical antenna with a diameter of 4.4 meters


• two onboard low-frequency conformal antennas


• high-frequency anti-mine GAS in the forward part of the wheelhouse


• towed low frequency antenna


• systems for non-acoustic detection of surface ships on the wake

Retractable devices: (from bow to stern)

• universal optronic periscope - in addition to several optical channels, it is equipped with a laser rangefinder and a thermal imager.


• multipurpose digital communications complex - provides both terrestrial and space communications in several bands.


• radar / electronic warfare complex - is a multifunctional radar with a phased antenna array capable of detecting both surface and air targets, with the additional ability to jam.


• RDP is a device for operating a diesel engine under water.


• digital complex of passive electronic intelligence - instead of old radio direction finders. It has a wider range of applications and, at the same time, due to the passive mode of operation, it is not detected by the enemy's RTR.

Armament

As mentioned above, thanks to a light power plant and a lightweight hull, the boat has an extremely powerful armament for its size, amounting to 56 weapons with a standard load. At the same time, anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine missile-torpedoes are launched from UVP. From torpedo tubes - torpedoes are launched.

The armament of a nuclear submarine consists of:

• 16 launchers in 4 solid silos located amidships. These are not "Onyxes", they did not fit in length. In our case, three times cheaper solid-propellant anti-ship missiles and vertical launch rocket-torpedoes are used (they are initially solid-propellant). The anti-ship missile has a mass of 2.5 tons, a transonic speed and a flight range of 200 km with a warhead of 450 kilograms, an anti-submarine missile-torpedo - has a range of 35 km (no longer needed for a boat) and a warhead in the form of a 324-mm torpedo or an underwater missile ...


• Four 605-mm torpedo tubes with ammunition of 20 torpedoes - 4 in TA and 16 on mechanized racks. The increase in the caliber of torpedoes is associated with the desire to increase the capabilities of the torpedo without increasing the length. If an ordinary Soviet torpedo has a caliber of 533 mm and a length of 7.9 meters, then our torpedo, with practically the same length (8 meters), is thicker, heavier per ton (i.e. weighs three tons). There are two types of torpedoes in ammunition - the first has a heavy warhead weighing 800 kg (modern supertankers are so huge that they require large warheads), the second has a high speed and range - 50 knots / 50 km.


• Also, instead of part of the torpedoes, the boat can take up to 64 mines of various types.


• Four 457-mm torpedo tubes designed to launch anti-torpedoes, hydroacoustic jammers, simulators and small anti-mine torpedoes. Ammunition - 4 torpedoes in TA and 16 in two echelons in mechanized racks. Instead of 16 small torpedoes, 4 large torpedoes can be placed on the racks. The mini-torpedo has a length of 4.2 meters and a mass of 450 kilograms, a firing range of up to 15 kilometers, and a warhead mass of 120 kilograms.


• Six Igla MANPADS with a stock of missiles.

Crew and habitability

The boat's crew consists of 70 people, including 30 officers. This practically corresponds to the boats of Project 971, where the crew is 72-75 people. On boats of Project 671RTM and Project 885 there are about 100 people. For comparison, American boats of the Virginia class have a crew of 120 people, and in Los Angeles in general - 140. All personnel are accommodated in single cabins and small berths. For the reception of food and other measures, two wardrooms are used - the officer's and the midshipman's. The boat is equipped with a medi-qing block, shower cabins and a sauna. All living quarters are located in the 2-3rd compartments on the 2nd and 3rd decks.

Comparison with competitors

In comparison with its direct predecessor - Project 671ртм - the boat became shorter by almost 12 meters, thicker and lost 6 knots of speed. By reducing the weight of the power plant (by 200-250 tons), it became possible to strengthen the armament with an anti-ship missile compartment. With practically the same underwater displacement due to a decrease in the buoyancy reserve (i.e. water) by 900 tons, the habitable volumes increased, which made it possible to raise the habitability conditions. Noisiness - has dropped radically. The detection range of low-noise targets has also increased. The autonomy remained the same, but the crew accommodation conditions became better, while the boat is better in operation, which will increase the utilization factor from 0.25 to 0.4.

Compared to its classmate - project 885 - the boat of the P-95 project has one and a half times less displacement and one and a half to two times (depending on the number of ships in the series) less cost. It is believed that in low-noise mode, when driving under an electric motor, the boat will be quieter even than Project 885.

The P-95 project looks very dignified against the background of an American Virginia-class boat. At least in dueling situations, our ship will not be inferior to the American one.

Launching a nuclear reactor

In this chapter

Normal or fast startup.

Someone to Fear: The Captain's Mate.

Call him "engineer".

Saying goodbye to the shore.

There are two types of reactor start-up: normal and fast. During quick start, the reactor is restarted after it has been suspended. It's like starting your car's engine after refueling. All temperature indicators are within normal limits, the mechanism is "used" to work, so to some extent, quick start is quite simple. It requires certain skills and experience from divers, but it is easier to produce than a normal launch.

Normal start-up is the procedure used when starting up a reactor after a long interruption in operation. It is carried out in accordance with Procedure No. 5 of the Operating Manual for a nuclear reactor and Operational Instruction No. 27. Procedure No. 5 is a kind of general statement that explains why certain things are done in this way. It still has legal force, at least in the submarine fleet, and its violation can lead at best to "disqualification".

Operating Instructions # 27 is a very detailed list of valves. Although it is over 30 pages long, the reactor operators know it so well that they can quote a passage of any length. One of the senior submarine officers knew this instruction so well that one day they arranged something like an amusement ride: the junior officer would open the instruction anywhere, and the senior would quote any paragraph from it. He could do it for hours, and while the beer was enough for a small party, he made surprisingly few mistakes.

Normal reactor start-up "according to the book"

So how do you start a nuclear reactor? First, open your eyes when you are shaken asleep by the senior officer of the watch. The clock is 1:45. You fell asleep on your desk in the watch room half an hour ago after working on your prelaunch list all day. You get up, put on your tunic, and lace up your nautical boots. Then you put 2 tablespoons of coffee in a cup, stir and swallow it before going to tail submarines in the engine room.

Your shift will end at 7:00, when the officers are summoned to the mate. The watchkeepers in the reactor compartment take turns at 7:30, when you climb into the sail, take the position of the duty officer and take the submarine out of the port. By the time you return to your berth, the submarine is already submerged. This will be after dinner.

Normal start-up of the reactor should be done only in the predawn hours. If all goes well, by 6 a.m., when the Chief Engineer of the Watch arrives on board, the ship may be sailing.

XO does not mean "hug and kiss"

The captain's mate is the second oldest on the sub. He does all the hard work for the captain, allowing him to pay more attention to tactical intentions. All the duties that you thought were performed by the captain are actually performed by the mate. The captain is in his cabin in deep thought, while the mate extinguishes the fire. The captain arrives aboard the sub at 10:00, dines with the officers, and sets out to play golf with the admiral.

And the captain's mate wakes up early, goes through a whole pile of papers and gives off 5 officers by the time the officers' meeting starts at 7:00. At the officers' meeting, all unit heads (chief engineer, navigator, weapons officer, and supply officer) and junior unit officers who report to unit heads sit at the table in the watch room and review the mate's order list. If you had to choose a person for the role of mate, you will try to remember the most unpleasant person you only know, but you give him a lot of authority.

On one submarine, the mate was hated and feared. The officers spoke very badly about him. On the last day of the mate's stay on the submarine, in a foreign port in the midst of a very intense operation, when he went ashore, where a car was waiting for him, the officers could hardly hold back tears.

As I watched this young cadet, I asked one of the officers what was going on.

"Did you hate the mate?" I asked.

“He was my second father,” the lieutenant snorted and pushed me out of his way. A man never forgets his first love and his first mate.

The captain's mate is a seaman of all trades. As a senior officer in the reactor compartment, he probably was once an engineer as well, before becoming the captain's mates. He makes the engineer "run and jump" so that all the papers regarding the reactor are in order. He has his own subordinates, and each junior officer reports to the mate about everything he wants to know. Each note on the way to the captain is corrected by the mate.

Admiral - commander of a squadron of submarines and chief of the captain. This is only true in port, because at sea the captain reports only to the senior admiral, for example, the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Commander, or the commander of a combat unit.

The mate manages the work on the sub, he is the busiest person on board, often working late into the night or getting up very early in the morning. If you have to do the impossible, then the mate is the one for you. If you have been selected for the position of mate, then you are better off taking a vacation first. For the next three years, you are unlikely to see anything other than work and sleep, and the latter is not at all guaranteed to you. And make sure your wife is an independent type of person, because she will not see you for a long time.

Excursion in front of the watch

Let's go back to the reactor: you find the senior officer of the watch and ask him to announce on the 1MC intercom and send someone to run through the sleeping quarters of the watch and gather everyone in the back of the submarine to start the reactor.

Once you went to the engineering rooms, you started your tour in front of the watch. You practically live in the tail end of the sub, so any event that comes out of the series is immediately visible to you. You make sure that the watchkeepers keep a close eye on the systems. They took up their positions, all with sleepy eyes, and wrinkled and unshaven. For a moment, you are overwhelmed by a sense of admiration for the nuclear sailors of this submarine. What kind of people they are, they got up in the middle of the night to start the reactor, and not a single complaint was heard. They are all self-confident professionals.

As you pass the cracks and corners of the propulsion system on your way to the lower level of the engine room, you recall Hemingway's line, which one of the junior officers liked to distort: ​​“I went downstairs to see how things are. Things were bad. " You smile to yourself as you climb the stairs to the upper level of the engine room, and find yourself in the company of the watch controller of the engine room and the watch of the upper level of the engine room.

The watch controller of the engine room is the chief, who is a highly professional atomic seaman. He can handle the watch and without you, but he most likely will not want to do this. You stand between the onboard turbine generators and discuss the startup of the reactor and its condition. He replies that everything is nominal and ready to launch. You say that you will meet him in 5 minutes in the reactor control room.

You come to the door to the reactor control room. It is a sacred place, but it is not like the abode of the high priests in a palace. Here people don't raise their voices. No one enters here without the permission of the nuclear officer of this room, unless he is the chief engineer, mate, captain, or senior officer of the watch.

His name is "engineer."

Ing. - the universal abbreviation of the chief engineer, or engineer, in the Navy. The officers in the post of engineer for all three years of sailing are referred to as "engineer."

Sometimes it seems that people even forget the real name of the engineer. If you call him at home and his wife answers, you will still ask for an "inja" to the phone. She will understand. It won't surprise anyone that even his children call him that. On board some submarines, if an engineer is too annoying, they might call him a "ding" (fucking engineer).

Engineer is a high rank among nuclear sailors. He is omnipotent, he is a god aboard a submarine. That is why, when he is chastised by the mate at an officers' meeting, it looks like God the Father is scolding Jesus. And if the captain's mate is a heavenly creature that pulls the strings, controlling the deity, then the captain has incredible power.

Watch engineer

He is a kind of representative of the engineer and controls the reactor. When the operation of the reactor and steam generator is suspended, the engineer of the reactor compartment becomes the duty engineer. When the reactor is started up or the reactor has reached critical mass, an engineer on watch is assigned, and he usually maintains a watch in the tail of the submarine. The engineer on watch will never leave the engine room.

The engineer on watch is responsible for the safety of the reactor and for general safety in the tail of the submarine. Of all he does, his duties as an engineer on watch during a sinking are among the most important, because skillful handling of emergency switches can save a submarine from repeating the fate of the Thrasher.

Someone must definitely replace the engineer on watch at his post when he goes to the toilet. Although there are toilets in the aft compartment, they are not properly equipped.

We enter the reactor control room

In front of the door to the reactor control room there is a chain at the waist level. You remove the circuit, but don't go inside until you say, "I'm entering the reactor control room."

Your favorite reactor operator will respond: "Got you, come in." He holds his hand in the air and looks at the reactor control panel. You "give it five", stand in front of the reactor control panel and look at the readings of the instruments. Without a word, he holds a large notepad over his shoulder as you scroll through the temperature, pressure, and power readings. After a few years, you can read these notes as easily as your girlfriend's expression. The state of the reactor is assessed as nominal.

Nominal level

When they say that something is in a nominal state, it means that:

there is a certain safe range for these indicators,

this indicator is within this range.

Nominal and normal are not the same thing, there is nothing normal on submarines. After all, what normal person would bar himself in an iron pipe with 120 other sweating sailors, dive to a depth of several hundred meters for months and voluntarily be dangerously close to nuclear weapons?

The time has come to examine the instruments of the control panel of the steam plant, located on the left. You glance at the instruments and nod to the ship's propulsion officer. To the right of the panel is the electrical installation control panel. The electrical operator looks sleepy, so you push him and ask someone to bring coffee. He is very grateful to you. You look at the instruments again and check the records of the operator of the electrical installation. Installation inside and outside the reactor control room is in nominal condition. You walk up to the Engineer of the Watch, which is a chair with long legs (the kind you can see at the bar), located near the desk / bookshelf. Above the table hangs a huge schematic drawing of the reactor piping arrangement. Valves that are closed or open during the execution of a particular instruction are marked with a black pencil. Valves labeled "danger" are marked in red, they are usually closed. You are viewing hazardous valves in the shift engineer logbook. We will now consider the alleged critical position.

A few more words about the nominal status: for example, you can ask: "How is your girlfriend doing?" You may be answered: "Her condition is nominal." This means that her condition is within the expected range, but it also implies that she is not necessarily in the best part of that range. In theory, your girlfriend can be both an angel and a devil, so anything that fits within this range is considered nominal. If the value falls on the best part of the spectrum, then the answer could be different.

Estimated critical state

Estimated critical state - calculating the volume of negative reactivity in the reactor core due to the presence of xenon formed during the last shutdown of the reactor. You are referring to graphs that show the reactor life (used number of hours of operation at full capacity), the number of hours of operation since the last shutdown, and the “biography” of the reactor before shutdown. All this affects the volume of xenon contained in the reactor core. You also take into account the temperature of the reactor. The graph will give you information on how far you need to remove the control rods from the reactor core in order to create a critical mass inside it. If the reactor has not reached the critical mass, then Instruction for performing operations No. 27 requires you to check the calculations of the calculated critical state or serviceability of nuclear equipment. If the nuclear equipment is malfunctioning, and you continue to remove the control rods from the reactor core, then you can make the reactor reach critical mass in an instant (see Chapter 6, which describes other types of reactor accidents).

Control rods group - several rods that are connected to the inverter. For example, the outer ring of control rods is group 3. The middle ring is group 2, and 6 central control rods make up the 1st group.

At a certain stage in the life of the reactor core, you begin to lift group 3 upward. You leave group 2 at the bottom of the reactor, and you pull out the first group until the critical mass is reached. The phrase "I control the reactor using group 1" means that you control the temperature of the reactor core using group 1. Subsequently, groups 2 and 3 are swapped - group 2 is at the top, and group 3 is at the bottom of the reactor core. Thus, the fuel in the reactor is burned evenly.

Inverter - electronic device which, like a large rheostat, uses resistors to lower the DC voltage. As a result, it creates a step voltage wave function to create alternating current. It converts direct current to alternating current. The reactor control inverter uses a three-stage alternating current, the inverter "freezes" the wave at a certain moment.

We call the engineer home

You check the calculated critical condition and log it. If the engineer was on board, he would have tagged it too. Sometimes an engineer will ask you to fax him a printout of the estimated critical state to his home, but since you are an experienced engineer officer, he just asks to call him and tell him how things are. You look at the clock: the diver's clock shows 2:15. You pick up the phone and dial the engineer's home number. You report on the situation, and the sleepy engineer says that he recommends starting the reactor.

The phone next to you rings. “Engineer on watch,” you say.

"Duty officer" - comes from the tube. This is your roommate and workroom mate Keith, who gets drunk in the ports when the crew goes ashore, but always as collected as the admiral. Someday he will rise to a high rank. “Time to call the captain. Did you get permission? "

“Yes, request permission to launch the reactor,” he replies, observing all the formalities.

The whale can be your roommate on board and on land, and you know what he thinks before he does anything, but you must follow the formalities.

Looking through the instructions

While you wait, you go through the instructions. This book is 12 centimeters thick. Paper is a work of engineering, similar to the material used to make envelopes for long-distance document delivery. You open Instruction number 27 and look at a few paragraphs. The words are familiar to you as the words of the Bible are familiar to the priest.

The phone rings again. "Engineer on watch".

“This is the officer on duty. Start up the reactor. "

“Yes, start the reactor,” you answer and hang up.

You take the 2MC intercom microphone from the stand, press a button, and listen to your voice, like the voice of God, echo through the engine room. You turn up the volume so that you can be heard over the noise of the turbines. Your voice sounds louder because the sub is like a grave, all the holes are closed. "Engine room controller on duty, enter the reactor control room."

You stand up and remove the reactor safety key chain from your neck. With it, you open the drawer under the bookshelf. Inside it are three fuses, each about the size of a flashlight. You close the drawer and hang the key back around your neck. The Engine Room Officer on Watch stands in front of the door to the reactor control room, along with the officer in charge of ship propulsion.

"Permit me to enter the reactor control room."

"I authorize." You pass the fuses to the engine room controller on duty and contact him formally.

"Engine room watch officer, insert the fuses into connectors A, B, and C of the inverter and turn off the breakers that shut down the reactor."

"Yes, put the fuses in connectors A, B and C of the inverter and turn off the breakers that suspend the operation of the reactor." He disappears to the front of the room for a few minutes. You make an entry in the Engineer's Journal and look up from the paper as soon as the Engine Room Officer returns. "Permit me to enter the reactor control room."

"I authorize."

"Sir, fuses are plugged into slots A, B and C. Breakers A, B and C shutting down the reactor are off."

"Got you, thank you, and happy launch."

He slaps the reactor operator on the head. “Watch out for this guy, sir. There should be no malfunctions for my watch. "

The reactor operator belched an expletive, without taking his eyes off the reactor control panel. You take a position behind the reactor operator, from where you can see the entire panel. You make another entry in the logbook of the watch engineer: we begin the normal start-up of the reactor.

"Reactor operator, start normal reactor start-up."

"Yes, start a normal reactor start-up."

You take the microphone of the 2MC intercom system and announce: "Start normal reactor start-up."

We start the pumps

The reactor operator stands up and grabs the lever for starting the main cooling pumps. "Starting the main pump No. 4 at low speed." He lifts the T-arm up and the pump starts. The signal light comes on and the pressure indicator jumps. "Starting the main pump No. 3 at low speed." It starts the next pump. Now 2 pumps are running at low speed in each of the cooling loops, previously one pump was running in each loop. "Two pumps are running at low speed."

"Got you."

“The control thrust of group 3 is fixed,” the reactor operator announces. He moves the lever labeled "inverter" to position B. Then he moves the traction control knob in the center of the lower ramp from the 12 o'clock position to the 9 o'clock position. At the same time, he pulls the handle out of the panel about 5 centimeters. "Connecting the clamp voltage to inverter B."

You are looking at the clamp voltage display. It doubles when the current from the latch from inverter B flows towards the holder of control rods of group 3. Before that, the holders were also in the open position, but as soon as they were energized, when the switch handle was pulled out of the panel, the electromagnets of each holder were charged and the holder pressed down on the threaded part of the control rod. To ensure that the holders are locked into the thread, the operator inserts the rods into the reactor. The rods are already at the bottom at this time, but he rotates the holders until they "catch" the thread.

"Group 3 rods are fixed."

"Got you."

“I raise the thrust to the top of the reactor core,” he announces. He gets up and turns the handle to the right.

You will not be able to create critical mass in the reactor with the rods of group 3. unless some serious accident occurs, but you still look at the reactor control panel like a hawk.

“The light signaling that the rods of group 3 have come off the bottom of the reactor has gone out,” the reactor operator reports.

The light on the outer ring of the lower control rods goes out as soon as the rods stop touching the bottom of the reactor.

The digital gauge readings increase when the thrust rises up when the thrust group is at 60, 75, 87 centimeters, until finally the thrust reaches the top of the reactor. At the same time, you observe the neutron level indicators and the reactor start-up level. Nothing special happens with any of these scales. If the reactor has been suspended for a long time, the neutron level will be so low that you will have to start the reactor on a “pull and wait” basis. Instead of pulling the thrust out of the reactor core, the operator pulls the thrust out for 3 seconds, and then looks at the instrument readings for the remaining 57 seconds. You repeat this procedure for the next 5 hours until the reactor level returns to normal range.

The reactor operator releases the control lever only when the rod group reaches the top of the reactor core. “I'm fixing group 2,” says the reactor operator. He switches the inverter to position B and moves the switch to the 9 o'clock position by removing it from the panel. "I supply voltage to group 2. Group 2 is fixed."

"Got you." Group 2 will remain at the bottom of the reactor core, and it is fixed so that in the event of a shake they will not jump and provoke a power surge.

"Fixing group 1". It moves the inverter switch to position A and repeats the latching procedure. "Bringing out group 1 to reach critical mass."

You gaze in suspense at the neutron level scale and the trigger level scale.

"The lamp showing that group 1 has come off the bottom of the reactor has gone out."

It takes a lot of effort to remove the control rods from the reactor core, but it doesn't take a lot of force to insert them inside. This is intentional: Admiral Rickover wanted the reactor operator to know when he was increasing the reactor's power. During a long start-up, the operator's hands shake when he removes the control rods from the core. The control rod control always returns to neutral when the operator removes his hand from it.

First swing of the reactor launch level arrow

As soon as group 1 leaves the reactor core, the arrow of the reactor start-up level sensor will move from the zero mark and will be set at 0.2 decades per minute. The operator continues to extend the link until the needle stops at the 1 decade per minute mark, and then releases the lever. The trigger level goes down to 0. It pulls the thrust again and the level goes up to 1 decade per minute. The arrow on the device showing the level of neutrons gradually rises, every few minutes showing changes in the level by an order of magnitude (first 10-9, 10-8, 10-7, and so on). Finally, when the reactor start-up level reaches 10–1 per minute, the operator moves the control link switch to neutral. The reactor start-up level is stabilized in the region of 0.3 decade per minute.

"The reactor has reached critical mass," he announces, making a note in his journal. The calculated critical state value showed that the critical mass will be reached at a distance of 60 centimeters. In fact, it happened at a height of 56.88 centimeters. Not bad at all.

You take the 1MC communication microphone, which is located next to the 2MC microphone. Your announcement can now be heard in all areas on board the submarine.

"The reactor, - here you pause theatrical, - has reached critical mass!" You make another entry and the launch continues.

“I bring out group 1 to go into operation,” says the reactor operator. He again grabs the control rod control lever and brings the trigger level to 1 decade per minute. The neutron content in the reactor core slowly reaches the operating level. The intermediate mode arrow also begins to rise, the two modes coincide in the second decade. “Source level selector switch in start mode, suspend disabled,” he says as he rotates the large switch on the panel.

“Got you,” you confirm. At this stage, the nuclear equipment is powered by a source-level channel selector switch. If the sensitive neutron detector had been powered for much longer, it would have failed due to neutron bombardment. At this stage, the signal for automatic suspension of the reactor from the initial start-up level sensor can no longer be received. The protection is now carried out by the intermediate start level sensor. If the level exceeds 9 decades per minute, the reactor will automatically shut down.

Now there is enough radioactivity in the reactor, so that the operator could remove the control rods and set the level at around 1.5 decades per minute. When he releases the lever, the level drops to 1 decade per minute. Now the reactor will start to "wake up" by itself, and you just watch how its level gradually moves from the starting level to the intermediate one. At the end of the intermediate mode, the operating mode is found. In operating mode, the reactor is capable of increasing the temperature of the coolant.

Toward the end of the intermediate mode, the heating level drops to 0. The reactor operator pulls out the control rods and looks at the readings of the instruments.

“The reactor went into operation,” he says. You repeat these words through the 2MC communication system. “Heats the main coolant to the green zone temperature,” he announces.

Now, when the reactor has entered the operating mode, raising the control rods increases the power of the reactor, as a result of which the cooling liquid is heated. The average coolant temperature, or T avg, is now 182 ° C.

“I’m stabilizing the reactor warm-up level,” he says, and puts the graph on top of the logbook.

Until the temperature of the main coolant settles in the green zone, the temperature of the reactor during start-up can increase faster. Since the starting temperature is quite high - 182 ° C, we can heat up the reactor quickly. If the initial temperature of the reactor were lower, then its heating would be limited to a few hundredths of a degree per minute, and the launch would take much longer.

T cf - the average temperature of the main coolant that enters and leaves the reactor. If T in = 238 ° C and T out = 260 ° C, then T av = 249 ° C. T cf must always be in the green zone between 246 ° C and 251.5 ° C. All studies of the safety of the reactor were carried out on the assumption that T cp is in the green zone. If the temperature of the reactor goes out of this range during operation, then no one will give you any guarantees that an accident will not occur. When T cf goes out of the allowable range, the reactor operator pulls out and re-enters the control thrust to decrease or increase T cf. (In the operating mode, the reactor power depends on the steam inflow. The choke operator regulates the reactor power using the degree of opening of the chokes, and the control thrust in this case only adds power to the reactor core in order to change T av.)

We heat up the reactor core

Over the next 30 minutes, the operator heats up the reactor core. Arrow T cp gradually rises. The reactor power level gauge reads between 0 and 5% as the reactor heats up.

“T cp is in the green zone, sir,” he reports.

“Got you. - You take the 2MC intercom. "Engine room controller on duty, enter the reactor control room."

Engine room controller on watch asks permission to enter the reactor control room. You sign to let him enter, and with him look at the reactor control panel. Then you give him the order to start the steam plant: “Engine room watchkeeper, start the main steam units 1 and 2. Introduce steam into the engine room, heat up the main steam shoes, create a vacuum in the main condensers on the starboard and port sides, start the turbines on the starboard and to the port side and warm up the main engines on the starboard and port side ”.

This is the only time the Engine Room Controller does not repeat the order. This exclusion has become a tradition.

He disappears to head for the front of the sub. As you wait, you know that he and the upper-level engine room watchmen are opening valves through which steam from the steam boilers can pass and reach the large baffles that shut off valves MS-1 and MS-2. This will lower the pressure drop across the valves and make them easier to open. When the difference in pressure becomes less than 3.3 atm, the Engine Room Officer on duty and the Engine Room Upper Level Watchkeepers will begin to open the MS-1 and MS-2 valves. Each valve will take a good 5 minutes to open.

“The sensor indicates the opening of the MS-2 valve,” says the reactor operator. The light bulb on its panel changed from oblong to round. A few minutes later, he announces the opening of the MS-1 valve.

There is a noise. The steam shoe begins to heat up and the condensation water in it is blown out by steam pressure. The noise you hear is the engine room watchkeeper, and the upper level engine room watchkeepers blow steam siphons, devices that keep condensation - water droplets - out of the steam shoes. After 10 minutes of blowing the pads, the Engine Room Officer on duty and the Engine Room downstairs crews create a vacuum in the condensers.

They start the starboard and port side seawater main pumps and then use the steam pressure of the auxiliary steam system to pump air out of the condensers. Condensation of vapor causes a vacuum: vapor occupies a much larger volume than liquid, which is why vacuum occurs in condensers. But at the beginning of the cycle, the pipes contain a lot of air, and the air does not condense. With the help of special devices with ventilation pipes, air blowers, steam is passed through these pipes to create low pressure... As a result, air is sucked out of the condensers and enters the engine room. These air blowers will make the engine room radioactive, as if you were using a reactor in which water is boiling, or if you had a coolant leak from the primary to the secondary cooling loop.

Soon the Engine Room Officer in charge returns to the upper level of the Engine Room and begins to spin the turbine generator on the port side. You will hear when the turbine starts to rotate. At first it rumbles. Then it growls, groans and screams like a jet plane, The sound rises to a deafening screech and finally turns into a howl until the frequency rises to a high-pitched whistle.

The Engine Room Officer on Watch appears in the doorway and says, "The turbine generator on the port side has started up and is ready to take on the load."

Switching the electrical installation

Time to switch the electrical installation. "Electric operator," you say, "switch the electrical installation to half the power from the turbine generator." The operator acknowledges the order and then connects his synchroscope to the turbine generator's breaker. It will manipulate the voltage and frequency in the auxiliary turbine generator breaker on its external power rail. The two power rails must be synchronized. This means that the alternating current, the voltage of which drops and then rises, must have the same value on both sides of the breaker. The meter compares the AC frequency on both sides of the breaker and the pointer slowly pivots towards the "fast" pointer. If the frequency of the auxiliary turbine generator is higher, the generator will decelerate when it takes over the load. When the hand is at the 12 o'clock position, the plant operator turns the breaker control knob and the auxiliary turbine generator breaker closes. It does so to redistribute the load of the main generator to the auxiliary one.

"The electrical installation is operating at 50% capacity and is connected to an auxiliary turbine generator."

You make the same announcement on the 2MC system. Engine room overseer on watch disappeared to the lower level of the engine room to start the main feed pump. The power level of the steam generator has been decreasing since it opened the MS-1 and MS-2 valves. You hear the pump start up and the steam generator water level indicators on the steam generator control panel are back to normal.

Soon, the Engine Room Officer in charge starts the turbine on the starboard side and reports that it is ready to take the load. After performing the same operation on the control panel of the electrical installation, the operator reports that the installation is ready to work at full capacity.

You command the plant operator to open the shore power breaker.

“Electrical operator,” you command, “disconnect shore power cables.” They are an electrician who climb into the cable access hatch and disconnect them. When they are finished, you contact the duty officer and report that shore power is off. Then you ask permission to spin the shaft to warm up the main motors. He permits.

The cables are too heavy to be lifted by hand. In order to unload them from the submarine, you have to use a crane.

Opening the chokes

The Engine Room Officer on Watch starts the turbines of the main engines and transfers control of them to the officer in charge of the ship's movement. For the next 8 hours, he will open the throttle bodies every few minutes to keep the main engines warm. Since the clutch is involved in this process, the shaft turns the propeller half a turn, but this is permissible, because there is no heavy load on the mooring ropes.

You are done. The reactor is now operating at about 18% of its capacity and Tav is in the green zone at about 249 ° C. Now you just have to wait until you are replaced, and you can go to the meeting of officers, and then to the bridge to lead the submarine into the sea. You yawn and take a cup of coffee from the watchkeepers on the upper level of the engine room.

The minimum you need to know:

The mate is the busiest person on board the sub.

The chief engineer is responsible for the operation of the nuclear reactor.

Nominal and normal are not the same thing, nothing is normal on a submarine.

The engineer on watch is fully responsible for the safety of the reactor and for the general safety in the tail section of the sub.

Disconnecting the shore power cables is the last step before the sub is fully independent from the shore.

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Since its inception, nuclear energy in Russia has remained the prerogative of the state, especially in terms of the development of new technologies. In recent years, private investors have made more than one attempt to enter this market, and so far only En + Group, which manages Oleg Deripaska's assets, has been successful. A parity joint venture between Rosatom and En + will adapt nuclear submarine reactors to civilian needs. Anna Kudryavtseva, CEO of the joint venture, told Interfax about the details of the future project and its prospects.

- You have been working on this project for a long time. When was the company incorporated? What will be the contributions of the parties: investments from Eurosibenergo and Rosatom's share?

The joint venture was registered on December 10, the parties' contributions are 50-50. We make not only investments, but also intellectual property.
We have the basic technology of a lead-bismuth-cooled reactor SVBR (lead-bismuth fast reactor - IF), which has been developed by industry organizations - Gidropress and the Obninsk Institute of Physics and Power. SVBR installations, only of lower power, were operated on nuclear submarines. So SVBR is a proven technology, and Russia is the only country in the world that has this workable technology.

- And abroad, someone is engaged in similar projects of reactors with a lead-bismuth coolant?

- Some countries are at the R&D stage, some have only preliminary groundwork and concepts.

- What customers are NPPs with SVBR reactors targeted at?

Such stations are intended for the needs of regional energy, where there is a need for generation of medium and low power with an increased level of safety. I mean, first of all, hard-to-reach areas where metallurgical companies or oil and gas companies are mining.
In addition, the project has a large export potential, first of all in Africa and Asia, where, in terms of consumption volumes, 1000 MW reactors are not needed (with a capacity of 1000 MW - IF), or they are not suitable due to network restrictions. But at the same time, they need an increased level of security, such that if something happens, the installation will self-muffle. And in our country, the very principle of the reactor is aimed at ensuring maximum safety, even in not very skillful hands.

- Previously, the total cost of the project was estimated - up to $ 1 billion. Do you confirm this amount?

- In the spring, we estimated the necessary investments at about 14-16 billion rubles (for the period until 2019), but this is at pre-crisis prices. Given the crisis, it is clear that this amount will be adjusted. On the one hand, we see a reduction in the cost of labor, and in some items - equipment, preparatory work. On the other hand, we understand that there is inflation.
I would like to emphasize that within the framework of the joint venture we are laying down a clear principle: the use of all the classical canons of project management. That is, there will be strict cost control on both sides.

- Rosatom and a private investor have parity shares. How will the disputable issues be resolved?

International arbitration.

Have you already carried out an intellectual property assessment? When will Rosatom add it to the joint venture, and how will it be done?

Preliminary negotiations with a partner on this issue have passed. However, questions remain about the procedure for evaluating these assets at their real value. The fact is that now the developments under the SVBR project are the property of the industry enterprises. And, as a rule, their score on the balance sheet is quite low. In order for us to bring this intellectual property into the joint venture at commercial value, a revaluation will be needed. But at the same time, questions of a legislative nature arise, because the revaluation will cause consequences for enterprises. tax character... Simply put, they have income tax. This is a problem point not only of our project, it is characteristic of the country as a whole.
In this regard, ROSATOM has created an intersectoral working group, which is still in its infancy. All the leading technology corporations are expected to be there. For example, Russian Technologies have already confirmed their participation. We also involve Rusnano, Russian Railways and Gazprom in this activity. Within the framework of working group proposals for improving the legislation of the Russian Federation in terms of scientific and technical and innovation activities and, in particular, with regard to accounting in intellectual property assets. In 2010, we plan to prepare a package of relevant legislative initiatives.

- And when, in this case, do you expect the laws to be corrected?

Most likely, as we hope, these proposals can be approved in 2011. But we will not be in a hurry.

- Can you estimate what will be the share of intellectual property in the total cost of the project?

- We have a preliminary figure, but this is confidential information.

- What kind priority tasks Has the joint venture decided for itself for the coming years?

The first stage of our work is R&D and preparation of a civil project. We are laying on this for about 3.5-4 years. Managing R&D for performance is the number one challenge.
The second point of our efforts is to determine the location of the pilot plant. We are now choosing from three sites, all of which are industry enterprises, where human and technical resources are concentrated. I would not like to name them yet. In early 2010, I think a choice will be made in favor of one of the sites.
We will choose according to a set of criteria, including technical and geological characteristics, human resources, project economics, as well as the region's energy shortage. Despite the fact that the capacity of the pilot plant will be small, we consider it not only as a platform for developing technologies, but also as an economic facility.

Nuclear power plants are now based on nuclear power plants with VVER reactors, which carry the base load in the UES of Russia. That is, they cannot maneuver during the day following a change in consumption. Will the stations with SVBR reactors also operate in the base?

Maneuverability is one of the characteristics that we put into the project. Another advantage of SVBR is modularity. The 100 MW reactor will not be assembled on site, it will be assembled at the manufacturing plant and then delivered to the site. This makes the project cheaper.

- Is it already clear who will be the manufacturer?

There is whole line enterprises, industry and non-industry, which we are considering. We are also ready to look at foreign suppliers of equipment. In addition, the joint venture itself has the task of developing competencies not only in the field of nuclear power plant engineering, but also in reactor building.
I would like to note that now, due to the crisis, machine builders have fewer orders from traditional power engineering, and there is no active struggle for their capacities, so in this sense we are starting at a good time.

- Will the cost of 1 kW of power of the station with the SVBR reactor be comparable to the price of VVER?

On a pilot plant, the economy never works. Then the whole question is in the configuration of the serial unit. We are now working on this issue, assessing the market, including the foreign one. The larger the power of the NPP, the more economical the plant, and, ultimately, it would be optimal to build stations with SVBR reactors at once for 1000 MW. We can do that too. Another question is that the nuclear industry has both "fast" sodium reactors (project BN-800 - IF) and VVER in this power line. Therefore, we are unlikely to enter this niche, but rather focus on regional energy.
A preliminary estimate shows that the optimal capacity of a NPP with SVBR will be in the range of 200-400 MW. But as a result, everything will depend on the market, on how much the market can eat.
The economic parameters of the project will be more clearly visible when the pilot plant is operational. Although, of course, we are doing all the basic calculations and forecasts now.

- How will the issues of SVBR radioactive waste be resolved?

We have no special problems in terms of waste. Some technical risky points are understandable and obvious, but there is no insoluble criticism, only purely engineering questions.
In general, the industry is now creating one system handling radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, and we simply fit in there, we will be consumers of the services of national operators in this area. The same will happen with fuel.

- What fuel does SVBR use by the way?

For now, we will use the traditional fuel - enriched uranium. Next, most likely, there will be uranium-plutonium fuel (MOX), and in the next stage - dense fuel when it appears. The geometry of the SVBR core allows the use of any type of fuel.

- If I understand correctly, SVBR can also be a nuclear material developer, a so-called "breeder"?

Yes it is. Although we do not have an end in itself to be engaged in the production of plutonium. On the contrary, from the point of view of nonproliferation, it is better not to make these settings by “breeders”. In addition, there are "fast" sodium reactors that can produce everything that the industry needs for the production of MOX fuel, in particular. And then, there must be a certain proportion of reactors - consumers of MOX, and the production of plutonium for these purposes. And this share is not one to one.

As far as we know, the possibility of using SVBR for placement on the sites of decommissioned nuclear power plants was discussed earlier. For example, at the Novovoronezh station, where the 1st and 2nd power units have already exhausted their resources. Is this idea still valid?

This option is being considered as an option, but we have not done a detailed study yet. However, we also understand that additional services of SVBR may be in demand on the market, such as superheated steam, heat, water desalination plants.

- The project is designed for a fairly long period of implementation, and now, in a crisis, many private investors are facing financial difficulties. Do you admit the option that your partner, for some reason, may withdraw from the project or reduce his participation in it?

- Our partner, Eurosibenergo, confirmed its interest, including at the management level, and provided certain guarantees. We have been working for a year and a half, and financing during 2009, in particular, comes from Eurosibenergo.

- How much money has already been invested?

It is impossible to name the exact amount, because it is not clear how to correctly evaluate on a cost basis what was invested in the Soviet years, and in particular through the Ministry of Defense, because SVBR reactors were operated on nuclear submarines.
In general, it is impossible to make a cost estimate for projects of this kind. Therefore, if we evaluate it, then only on the basis of the income principle.

- You also count on the support of the state. How will it be expressed?

There are two aspects to this question, like two sides of the same coin. Firstly, there is a branch FTP on nuclear technologies of a new generation, where the development of "fast" power engineering, that is, reactors with sodium, lead and lead-bismuth coolants, is spelled out in a separate article. Financing in the direction of SVBR is provided there, and we consider this as a contribution of the state to the business of the state corporation. And the second side - within the framework of the presidential commission on modernization, our project was approved back in July, with the note "without additional funding." There is such a format that confirms the priority status of the project.