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Access anywhere, anytime: Nuclear power, Ice Camp, and Rickover’s enduring standard of excellence
Admiral William Houston
As U.S. Navy submarines surface through Arctic ice during Ice Camp 2026, they demonstrate more than operational proficiency in one of the harshest environments on Earth. They reaffirm a technological truth first proven in August 1958, when the USS Nautilus completed its submerged transit of the North Pole: nuclear power enables access anywhere, anytime.
The Arctic is unforgiving, with vast distances, extreme cold, shifting ice, and no logistical infrastructure. Conventional propulsion is constrained by fuel, air, and endurance. Nuclear propulsion removes those constraints. Only a nuclear-powered submarine can operate anywhere in the world’s oceans, including under the polar ice, undetected and at maximum capability for extended periods. Nuclear power provides sustained high speed and the endurance to reposition across the globe without refueling.
Zhongli Cai, Xifeng Li, Yosuke Katsumura, Osamu Urabe
Nuclear Technology | Volume 136 | Number 2 | November 2001 | Pages 231-240
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT01-A3241
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An understanding of the radiation-induced effects in groundwater is essential to evaluate the safe geological disposal of spent fuel. In groundwater, the bicarbonate ion is the predominant and common anion; this work investigated radiation-induced chemical reactions of (bi)carbonate aqueous solutions with steady-state irradiation and pulse radiolysis methods. Aqueous solutions of sodium (bi)carbonate as high as 50 mmoldm-3 were used. The formation of formate, oxalate, and H2O2 were measured under different conditions. A complete set of reaction steps and reliable kinetic data for the radiolysis of (bi)carbonate aqueous solutions at ionic strength close to the groundwater were proposed. Kinetic calculations were completed based on the proposed reaction steps and the kinetic data obtained in the present work. The results from the calculation are in good agreement with the experimental results. With these proposed reaction steps and kinetic data, computer simulation can be performed to predict the yield of radiolytic products of (bi)carbonate aqueous solutions as a function of irradiation time and used to evaluate the safety of geological disposal options of spent fuel.
