A2W reactor

The A2W reactor is a naval nuclear reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The A2W designation stands for:

This nuclear reactor was used in the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The four propulsion plants on Enterprise each contained two reactors, numbered according to shaft they powered, 1A-1B, 2A-2B, 3A-3B, and 4A-4B. Each propulsion plant was capable of operating on one reactor plant through most of the power range required to propel the ship at speeds in excess of 33 knots (60 km/h). Both reactors would have been on-line to simultaneously provide maximum ship speed and plane launching capability.

The reactors are pressurized water reactors fueled by highly enriched (upwards of 93%) uranium-235. Light water is used as both neutron-moderator and reactor coolant. Hafnium Control rods are used to control the operation of the reactor. Extracting the rods to a calculated height allows the reactor to reach criticality, the point at which the nuclear fission reactions reach a self-sustaining level. Thereafter, steam flow (from the steam generators) regulates reactor power as explained below. The control rods are "shimmed" in or out to regulate average coolant temperature or lowered to the bottom of the reactor vessel to shut the reactor down — either done in a slow controlled manner or dropped rapidly during what is called a SCRAM to immediately shut the reactor down in an emergency.

Much of the reactor power control during steady-state operation comes as a result of the coolant water's negative temperature coefficient. The power of the reactor is determined by the instantaneous rate of fission events that take place in the fuel. As the water heats up, it expands and becomes less dense, which provides fewer molecules per volume to moderate the neutrons, hence fewer neutrons are slowed to the required thermal energies to sustain thermal fission. Conversely, when the coolant water temperature decreases, its density increases and a greater number of neutrons reach the required thermal energy, increasing the number of fissions per unit of time, creating more heat. This has the effect of allowing "steam demand" to control reactor power, requiring little intervention by the Reactor Operator for changes in the power demanded by the ship's operations.

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