Could nuclear US Navy ships provide emergency backup power to Japan?

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Re: Could nuclear US Navy ships provide emergency backup power to Japan?

#11

Post by bradleyland » Tue, Mar 15, 2011, 4:35 PM UTC

jarin wrote: post #7

jedc wrote: post #3

Former US Navy submarine officer here. The easy answer is no. The turbine generators are much smaller than the main engines and are designed to take much less load. Also, the cables, breakers, and connections can't handle that kind of electrical load. But the longer answer is that yes, it is possible. When subs and other ships tie up to the pier, we connect cables to connect the boat to "shore power." Reverse the flo…

Former (non-nuke, non-electrician) US Navy carrier sailor here. :) According to Wikipedia, the output for a Los Angeles-class attack sub is around 150-165 MW and the output for a Nimitz-class carrier is around 194 MW. The damaged Fukushima reactors have a total output of 2,812 MW, so even in a best case scenario it seems like you would only be able to use naval reactors to power emergency and critical services. Of co…

100% of that 194 MW isn't used for electrical power generation. The total MW output is split between propulsion and the generators. If I had to guess, I'd say that bulk of the wattage is used for propulsion. Moving a carrier through the water at 30 knots is no small feat.

Re: Could nuclear US Navy ships provide emergency backup power to Japan?

#12

Post by abizzy » Wed, Mar 16, 2011, 3:11 AM UTC

lucasjung wrote: post #9

bhousel wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, once the reactors are doused with seawater they're done. But there are plenty of other facilities that need emergency power now - hospitals, water treatment plants, the other reactors that aren't yet ruined. It would be useful and awesome if US ships and subs carried the necessary equipment and were trained in how to provide emergency power to disaster-stricken places.

Every U.S. ship has the necessary connections to connect to land-based power grids. Normally these are used to draw power into the ship, but they can be made to work both ways. Even non-nuclear ships can push power, at least until they run out of fuel. The big problem is that the power grid is usually deavily damaged by the disaster (or non-existent to begin with in some countries), so there's nothing for the ship(s)…

Thank you all for the feedback, glad to have found this thread. I've been curious about the ability to provide enough power and fresh water to avert disaster in some of the reactors not beyond repair. Have yet to hear much about this in the news, is there any information that this has been discussed; as well, why the lack of nuclear experts/techs on site as opposed to a seemingly small number of private employees. Certainly hope a sense of pride/responsiblity is not impeding help and safety.

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