Rolls-Royce PWR
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The Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR) series has powered British nuclear submarines since the Valiant class, commissioned in 1966. The first British nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, was powered by a Westinghouse S5W reactor.
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[edit] PWR1
The first British naval reactor, the PWR1, based on a Westinghouse design (but built entirely by Rolls-Royce) went critical in 1965. Technology transfers under the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement eventually made Rolls-Royce entirely self-sufficient in reactor design.
Rolls Royce and Associates at Derby became the centre for design and manufacture of the reactors. The Ministry of Defence's Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment, at Dounreay, tested each reactor prior to its installation in nuclear submarines.
[edit] PWR1 submarines
- Core 1
- Core 2
- Core 3
[edit] PWR2
PWR2 is the latest nuclear reactor designed to power the Royal Navy's submarines. The PWR2 was developed for the Vanguard class Trident missile submarines and is a development of the PWR1. The first PWR2 reactor was completed in 1985 with testing beginning in August 1987 at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment.
The latest design of the PWR2 is the "Core H", which removes the need for refuelling, allowing a submarine to avoid two reactor refits in its service life. HMS Vanguard will be fitted with the new core during its refit, followed by its three sister ships. The Astute class submarines will have this full-life core installed. As they were developed for SSBNs, the reactors are considerably larger than those of current British SSNs. The diameter of Astute class hulls have therefore been increased to accommodate the PWR2.
Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations Ltd claim that the Core H PWR2 can deliver six times the power of the original PWR1 and last four times as long.
