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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.
Ana C. Fernandes, Isabel C. Gonçalves, Nuno P. Barradas, António J. Ramalho
Nuclear Technology | Volume 143 | Number 3 | September 2003 | Pages 358-363
Technical Note | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT03-A3423
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Monte Carlo code MCNP-4C was used to calculate the effective multiplication coefficient of a core configuration of the Portuguese Research Reactor (RPI) and the neutron fluxes in the core and in the reflector region.A comparison of the results obtained with MCNP and with the deterministic codes WIMSD-5 and CITATION was made. Consistent deviations of 2% for the effective multiplication constant and 8 to 28% for the neutron flux, depending on the energy range, were observed.Thermal, epithermal, and fast neutron flux measurements were performed using activation detectors. The calculations agree with experimental values within <15%; therefore, the Monte Carlo results can be used to predict the neutron field in other locations and irradiation facilities of the RPI.
