Page 538 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

reactors have been used at sea, making commissioned in 2022. It also leases a that have led to restrictions on access to and a smaller one, LK-40 class, for shal-
over 13,000 reactors-years of marine op- Russian submarine. new Akula II class, the ports, convincing the various actors in low water. These projects have budgets
eration (one reactor-year = one reactor INS Chakra, and has plans to build nine society that modern technology is fully between 0.5 and 2 billion dollars.
operating for one year), around 7,000 other nuclear submarines. capable of guaranteeing this safety. Ad- Commercial ships with nuclear propul-
from Russia and over 6,200 from the US . The Brazilian case is unique, as the Bra- ditionally, it will be necessary to demon- sion still need to demonstrate their eco-
In a period of 50 years, the US Navy zilian Navy will build a submarine whose strate the economic viability of nucle- nomic viability, as the experiments carried
operated, without accidents, 526 nuclear nuclear propulsion is being developed in a ar-powered maritime transport, some- out so far have not been successful. How-
reactors, over 240 million kilometers. Its totally autochthonous way, while the naval thing that, as we will see, has not yet ever, the need to restrict the use of fossil
entire submarine fleet uses nuclear pro- part, which includes the hull and all equip- occurred, except for icebreakers. fuels, as they contribute to global warm-
pulsion. In 2017, it had 11 aircraft carriers ment not directly linked to propulsion, will In the case of icebreakers used in the ing, may lead to new attempts to build
and 70 submarines, which used 92 reac- use French technology already passed on Arctic, the Russians demonstrated that and use these ships that incorporate re-
tors. In general, their vessels are designed to Brazilian technicians responsible for the nuclear propulsion was technically and cent technological advances.
to operate for more than 40 years, with design and construction. This submarine, economically viable to operate in adverse The first nuclear merchant ship was
high enrichment fuel (>90%) and a single which will be named after Admiral Álvaro conditions, facing thick layers of ice with- the 22,000-ton NS Savannah, built in
scheduled stop for refueling and general Alberto, should be commissioned in 2030. out the refueling difficulties of conven- the United States, commissioned in 1962
maintenance. All the countries mentioned have ship- tional vessels. Since the introduction of and decommissioned eight years later
The Russian Navy registered 6,500 re- building industries capable of designing nuclear icebreakers, Arctic navigation has because, despite good technical perfor-
actors-years in maritime use until 2015. and building naval assets with embedded increased from two to ten months a year. mance, it was not economically viable. The
It has about 21 nuclear submarines, one reactors. Given the number of ships and The first of these icebreakers was the same happened with the 15,000-ton Ger-
nuclear-powered cruiser in operation and the constant need for maintenance and Lenin, the first nuclear-powered civilian man cargo and research vessel Otto Hahn,
three others in maintenance. There are updating, this military segment of the na- surface ship, commissioned in 1959 and which sailed for ten years with nuclear
plans to build eight more nuclear subma- val industry is of great economic impor- decommissioned thirty years later. Six of propulsion, but was converted to diesel
rines and one nuclear-powered submers- tance, as each vessel costs billions of dol- the Arktika class followed, the name of propulsion in 1982. The Japanese Mutsu,
ible for great depths, as well as increasing lars. This industry, as it involves design and the first surface ship to reach the North with 8,000 tons, commissioned in 1970,
the lifespan of its third-generation subma- construction, generates many jobs, some Pole, in 1977. Of these, two remain in op- had technical and economic problems.
rines from 25 to 35 years. of them with high qualifications, since the eration, with the last one being commis- All three used low-enriched uranium, be-
China has about 12 nuclear subma- construction of nuclear vessels has a high sioned in 2007. To get an idea of the size tween 3.7 and 4.4% 235U.

rines and is considering building nucle- degree of technological complexity. of these ships, the latter is 25,800 tons A successful experience with a nuclear
ar-powered polar ships, aircraft carriers 4.2 The civil naval industry deadweight, 160 m long, 20 m wide and merchant ship took place in Russia, where
and icebreakers. France operates a nucle- can break through 2.8 m thick ice with a North Sea shipping conditions demand
ar-powered aircraft carrier and ten nuclear The use of nuclear propulsion in civil propulsion power of about 54 MWe. this type of propulsion to deal with ice and
submarines, with six new Barracuda-class vessels, especially icebreakers and large There are two other icebreakers in refueling difficulties. The NS Sevmorput,
submarines planned, of which the Suffren merchant ships, such as bulk carriers and operation in Russia, designed for the intended to serve northern Siberian ports,
will be the first to be commissioned. Great ore transport ships, is something that has shallow waters of rivers and estuaries. In was commissioned in 1988, scheduled for
Britain has 12 submarines, all nuclear. been considered, as it can lead to a re- addition, the Russian shipping industry, decommissioning in 2014, but has had its
More recently, the Indian Navy has duction in transport costs and the replace- anticipating greater Arctic traffic in the lifespan extended. In 2019, it was trans-
built, with Russian technology, a nucle- ment of fossil fuels by energy sources that future, is committed to building five LK- porting fresh food from the Pacific via the
ar ballistic submarine, the INS Arihant, do not produce greenhouse gases. 60 class icebreakers, the first of which is North Sea route to Murmansk.
commissioned in 2016, and is build- To do so, it will be necessary to deal due to be commissioned this year, anoth- There are also examples of nucle-
ing a second, the INS Aridaman, to be with questions about naval nuclear safety er of the larger LK-120 class icebreakers, ar-powered icebreakers being used on

536 BLUE ECONOMIY Nuclear Technologies for the Sea 537