right|thumb|300px|The S5G reactor plant floats in a tank of water to simulate the engine room of a submarine

The S5G reactor was a prototype naval reactor designed for the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on submarines. The S5G designation stands for:

  • S = Submarine platform
  • 5 = Fifth generation core designed by the contractor
  • G = General Electric was the contracted designer

Design

The S5G was a pressurized water reactor plant with two coolant loops and two steam generators. It had to be designed with the reactor vessel situated low in the boat and the steam generators high in order for natural circulation of the primary coolant to be developed and maintained.

Reactor primary coolant pumps are one of the primary sources of noise from submarines, and the elimination of coolant pumps and associated equipment would also reduce mechanical complexity and the space required by propulsion equipment.

The S5G had primary coolant pumps, but they were only needed for very high speeds. And since the reactor core was designed with very smooth paths for the coolant, the coolant pumps were smaller and quieter than the ones used by the competing S5W core. They were also fewer in number. In most cases the submarine could be operated without using coolant pumps at all. The quiet design resulted in a larger hull diameter but required larger primary coolant piping than the competing S5W reactor. Due to the larger size, the S5G was not used in subsequent attack submarines, but was a precursor to the S8G reactor design used in the larger s.

To further reduce engine plant noise, the normal propulsion setup of two steam turbines driving the screw through a reduction gear unit was changed instead to one large propulsion turbine with no reduction gears. This eliminated the noise from the main reduction gears, but the cost was to have a huge main propulsion turbine. The turbine was cylindrical, about 12 feet in diameter, and about 30 feet long. This massive size was necessary to allow it to turn slowly enough to directly drive the screw and be fairly efficient in doing so. The same propulsion setup was used on both USS Narwhal and the land-based prototype.

right|thumb|300px|The S5G Prototype was turned over to the [[U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management in 2024 for demolition. Several programs for documenting the facilities were also planned with organizations involved in historical preservation.

Built in the early 1960s, the S5G prototype was permanently shut down in May 1995. After defueling, the Navy turned it over for demolition in 2024.

References

  • Stacy, Susan M (2000). "Proving the Principle, A History of The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, 1949-1999", (Chapter 10) [https://web.archive.org/web/20080908112713/http://www.inl.gov/proving-the-principle/chapter_10.pdf]