S5W reactor
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The Westinghouse Electric Corporation's S5W nuclear reactor is a pressurized-water nuclear fission reactor intended to power submarines. This type's simplicity, overdesign, and redundancy was intended for ease of operation and to tolerate battle damage; these characteristics contributed greatly to the type's reliability, longevity, and sterling safety record. S5W was the standard reactor for submarines of the United States Navy from its first use in 1959 on USS Skipjack (SSN-585) until the introduction of the Los Angeles class submarines in the mid-1970s. One such plant was also used in Britain's first nuclear-powered submarine HMS Dreadnought (S101). As of 2005, two S5W reactor plants remain in service, ex-USS Daniel Webster (MTS-626) and ex-USS Sam Rayburn (MTS-635). These plants are used to train naval nuclear operators; the designation MTS stands for "moored training ship."
Later-model S5W reactor plants were often refueled with an S3G core-3; that is, the third version of the third core designed for submarines by General Electric.
External links
- Federation of American Scientists, [S5W].
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