S5G reactor
|
The S5G nuclear reactor, the fifth submarine reactor designed by General Electric, was installed as a land based prototype at the Nuclear Power Training Unit, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho and on Narwhal (SSN-671). It was a natural-circulation powerplant intended to test the potential contribution of this technology to submarine quieting. 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 volume required by propulsion equipment. Its design was the direct ancestor of the S8G reactor used in the Ohio-class submarines.