Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (Full Version)

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Command: Modern Operations series



Message

severe7 -> Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 9:50:43 AM)


Very interesting read and nice pictures here.
It really shows the size of the submarine, it's enormous.
(I didn't create this, all credit goes to the user "Vepr157" on reddit.com)



CassioM -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 12:13:25 PM)

Great pics

I've always been a fan of these monstrous whales.

A curiosity. Everywhere say it has 170 meters. In CMANO is 175 meters.

What is the actual size of this thing? 170 or 175 meters?

Thanks



frosen -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 3:28:53 PM)

Good stuff!

Interesting details and also the context.

Would be interesting to know the cost of having one of those in service.



ultradave -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 4:15:22 PM)

The construction photos are fascinating. The scale of the assembly hall is amazing considering the size of the submarines themselves.

A couple of things I noticed in the captions. The use of an overhead shielded deck that can be a personnel access area is a heavier design than one having a small passageway. Both must be shielded to the same level as the occupational limits for both would be the same.

So while in theory a modern US submarine COULD be designed with a shielded overhead deck (depending on hull size), it would be more weight efficient to keep to a shielded passageway. And in submarine design weight is a huge factor and reactor shield weight is a big contributor to be minimized (within the limits of achieving required dose rate limits).

I expect the comment on Russian reactors being smaller is due to the fact that some were/are liquid metal cooled fast reactors and are therefore more compact. The US has stayed with PWRs since the original liquid Na reactor was removed from the first SEAWOLF (SSN-575). I would imagine that Russian PWR plants would be comparable in size to US plants for the same power output. (you can't cheat the physics ! )

The picture of the crew around the control rods is unlikely to be on an operating plant. Even with a shielded deck there would be so much radiation streaming up around the control rods that you would not be able to stand there during reactor operation, without a significant shield around the rods.

Really great pics of the inside and outside - many, many that I had not seen before. It's incredibly spacious by the standard of any other submarine, and not just in the living areas. The engineering spaces are immense. Also, I had not realized the "extra" pressure hull areas - conning above the two side by side for example or a separate torpedo room pressure hull.

Thanks for posting. Really interesting.



severe7 -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 5:31:54 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: ultradave

I expect the comment on Russian reactors being smaller is due to the fact that some were/are liquid metal cooled fast reactors and are therefore more compact. The US has stayed with PWRs since the original liquid Na reactor was removed from the first SEAWOLF (SSN-575). I would imagine that Russian PWR plants would be comparable in size to US plants for the same power output. (you can't cheat the physics ! )


Can you explain why the US uses another kind of reactor? Is it safer, cheaper, more silent?

I think the text is hyping Soviet technology too much at times, but still very interesting. I had no idea that the Soviet Union had so little budgetary oversight, seems strange for such a controlling society.



ultradave -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 6:44:28 PM)

Seawolf had a lot of problems, especially secondary to primary leaks right away. Adm Rickover made the decision to abandon further work on Na cooled fast reactors for subs and converted the Seawolf to a PWR. PWRs were already proven and the Nautilus was already very successful in operation.

The Naval Reactors program is very conservative. A reactor design that showed immediate problems did not fit Adm Rickover's philosophy of design and ops.





ultradave -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 6:45:21 PM)

I think it's better to say that the Russians use another kind of reactor. PWRs are pretty standard in shipboard propulsion.



severe7 -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 7:06:19 PM)

So it's more about the US sticking with a reactor type that works than sinking untold billions into new tech that might not? Makes sense.



DeltaIV -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 7:54:15 PM)

They are all PWR these days. Russians experimented with lead-bismuth as heat exchange medium, USA experimented with liquid sodium. Problem with liquid sodium is that it's quite dangerous when it leaks. Liquid metal on other hand "freezes" when you shut-down the reactor, so both docks and the submarine itself need some sort of external power-source to keep the reactor running even at minimal power all the time. Of course, both of these had higher efficiency as heat-exchange medium, thus they generated more power compared to pressurized water reactors.






jtoatoktoe -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/26/2014 10:41:00 PM)

Even the American ones have gotten smaller and the new ones don't ever have to be refueled during their lifetime. Even the Ford's can go 50 years without a midlife refuel.



ultradave -> RE: Interesting information and pictures about the Typhoon (Project 941 Akula) (8/27/2014 12:26:18 AM)

Smaller, higher power density, but Ford class will still require refueling. A lot of work went into making that evolution easier than Nimitz class. Virginia SSN will not need refueling.



Page: [1]

Valid CSS!




Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI
2.796875