I've seen glaciers load faster than that website. I'm really impressed that it's hanging on and not just erroring out.
Running under Python no less.
Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
21–30 of 62 posts
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#22These were among the only Lead-bismith cooled nuclear reactors ever operated. Sodium-potassium eutectic or pure sodium coolant is a better heat transfer fluid but in a water environment it's just a little crazy due to sodium-water chemistry. The US Navy tried sodium coolant in the USS Seawolf [1] and it was smaller, quieter, and more powerful, but they had problems with the steam generators. Not an unsolvable problem…
I wonder if we'll see non-pwr naval reactors anytime soon. A high temp reactor would allow using a supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle which would take up much less space.
On another note, what would happen if a MSR powered ship would sink and the fuel salt would come into contact with sea water? Would the salts dissolve into the water? Much as I like MSR's as a concept, if so this would make them a quite bad idea on a ship...
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
BTW, the real "Red October" is a Typhoon class sub: http://www.hisutton.com/The%20REAL%20Red%20October%20-%20Typ...
I think the opponent Russian sub was an Alfa, though. That's the one that's sunk at the end of the movie.
Yes, that's correct. (And the US subs are 688 class.)
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#24I've seen glaciers load faster than that website. I'm really impressed that it's hanging on and not just erroring out.
Running under Python no less.
I happen to know how it's set up :)
It's a pelican static site but in git; then there is a tiny Python webserver that 'publishes' the bare git repo, not unlike a custom github pages.
And it's running on an absolute-cheapest VPS with no RAM or CPU to speak of.
The good thing about the host though is they limit bandwidth rather than total bytes, so sure it slows down - it's really being hammered right now! - but it won't die with a nasty message when it hits some total-bytes-per-month limit.
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought perhaps 400m was their max depth but Wikipedia says 350.
"Max depth" is kind of a nebulous concept though. There's the "test depth" which is as deep as they're willing to test the submarine. There's the maximum operational depth, which is some lesser depth that keeps a safety margin over the test depth. Then there's the "crush depth", which is the depth at which the submarine will actually fail, and is hopefully substantially deeper than the test depth.
.. and along those lines cannot recommend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Boot enough
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#26It was an experimental design and as the article says, it was very expensive. Titanium was not just expensive, but it was hard to use. Welding had to be done in an inert gas chamber.
Imagine building an inert gas chamber for a submarine.
More info about it here https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/russias-alfa-class-was-the...
I think that's a better overall article than the original link.
New reactor design was experimental as well. Lead bismuth mixed had to be kept 120'C or higher. But it was much easier to increase it power momentarily, say if they wanted to chase someone.
There is also a youtube video about it among others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ34mE-aCdY (in Russian though)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO6FZ_ztzKM
In one of the videos they mentioned when they did sea trials, the speed got so high it stripped the paint off. It was also fun to show off their new toy to the Americans.
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#27These were among the only Lead-bismith cooled nuclear reactors ever operated. Sodium-potassium eutectic or pure sodium coolant is a better heat transfer fluid but in a water environment it's just a little crazy due to sodium-water chemistry. The US Navy tried sodium coolant in the USS Seawolf [1] and it was smaller, quieter, and more powerful, but they had problems with the steam generators. Not an unsolvable problem…
I wonder if we'll see non-pwr naval reactors anytime soon. A high temp reactor would allow using a supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle which would take up much less space. On another note, what would happen if a MSR powered ship would sink and the fuel salt would come into contact with sea water? Would the salts dissolve into the water? Much as I like MSR's as a concept, if so this would make them a quite bad idea on a s…
Not in the US Navy. Part of the reason the US Navy standardized on PWR is that while it's not the most efficient it is something you can restart at depth if necessary. The lesson of how much that matters was driven home by the loss of the USS Thresher.
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#28In case people miss it, there's a link to a fascinating CIA case study: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig... that describes how the CIA reached consensus about the Alfa being made of titanium.
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#29This is tangentially related: I came across this Reddit post a while back that I found very insightful. In the area of submarine design, the Soviets/Russians are actually much more innovative than Americans. They seem much more willing to try new ideas whereas Americans stuck to a more conservative try and true design. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/3bzekv/what_...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sunken_nuclear_subma... the list of sunken Soviet submarines is much longer than the list of sunken US submarines, how is that explained?
Re: Russian ALFA Class interceptor submarine
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Zolotaya Rybka Hadn't heard that phrase before. This appears to be a decent explanation: https://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/zolotaya-rybka/ "If you’re too greedy, you’ll lose everything."
'Zolotaya' -> made of gold or golden, 'Rybka' -> fish. The Polish currency is named 'złoty', which also has its roots in gold.
'Rybka' is the diminutive of fish - 'Ryba'