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Originally posted by Albany Rifles View PostJust a quick thought/question....
One of the more famous videos from World War 2 is of the HMS Barham exploding while rolling over after a torpedo hit.
Question...was that the boilers letting go or would that have been her magazines?
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Originally posted by 85 gt kid View PostA little unrelated but my "aunts" step dad was career Navy and unfortunately I don't know allot that he did but he was in engineering on a nuclear surface ship at one point and I remember him saying how safe the Navy reactors are compared to land based units. I also remember him saying about using a broom handle to check for leaks so you don't lose any digits! Haven't seen him in 10 years now I'll have to see how he's doing.
The nuclear navy also kind of cheats when compared to civilian power plants because they have access when designing plants to large quantities of some high-performance materials which aren't cost-effective to use in the real world. Navy plants are much smaller, and they don't have to make a profit when operating."Nature abhors a moron." - H.L. Mencken
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Originally posted by Zad Fnark View Post
LHA(R)
The "R" stands for "Replacement". It's more of a program designation than a hull classification symbol.
Usually you'll see "X" instead, such as CVNX or SSBNX, for such programs. Why they decided to go with (R) is a mystery to me.“He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”
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Well that was his point was that while they're not as efficient they're way safer and when you look at the list of nuclear incidents just in the US you'd think they would go with that route now or atleast some combo.RIP Charles "Bob" Spence. 1936-2014.
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The best example of a boiler "explosion" is probably the gunboat Bennington.
SAN DIEGO'S NAVAL DISASTER: | San Diego History Center
Bennington Gunboat No. 4
Explosion is in quotes because like the Iwo Jima incident mentioned above, it was more of a rapid blast of steam being released, not some form of physical detonation of the boiler. (yes, I'm aware of the fire that caused the magazine to be flooded)Last edited by ChrisV71; 14 Apr 15,, 21:45.
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Originally posted by 85 gt kid View PostWell that was his point was that while they're not as efficient they're way safer and when you look at the list of nuclear incidents just in the US you'd think they would go with that route now or atleast some combo.
Efficiency depends on how you look at it. The power density of naval reactors (size-to-output) is massive compared to civilian plants, so in that sense they're a lot more efficient. However, if you're comparing energy it takes to make them versus output, civilian plants come out way ahead for the same reason. The Navy uses highly enriched fuel, which takes a lot of energy to make, and civilian plants use what's only a few steps up from radioactive dirt."Nature abhors a moron." - H.L. Mencken
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While they didn't cause massive contamination like that certain one in Ukraine they really hurt peoples outlook on Nuclear power which is almost worse since nuclear plants seem to be on a decline. I know most people I've talked to balk at the idea but don't want fossil fuel plants either (apparently wind and solar is 100% infallible in allot of peoples eyes)RIP Charles "Bob" Spence. 1936-2014.
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Originally posted by TopHatter View PostThe "R" stands for "Replacement". It's more of a program designation than a hull classification symbol.
Usually you'll see "X" instead, such as CVNX or SSBNX, for such programs. Why they decided to go with (R) is a mystery to me."Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
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Originally posted by Genosaurer View PostI'd hope so, because the design requirements are so different. On top of being able to take whatever nature, routine component wear-and-tear and the stresses of the operating environment can dish out, the reactor(s) on a warship might be actually getting hit with missiles and bombs. They have A LOT of redundancy in components and safety features as a result.
The nuclear navy also kind of cheats when compared to civilian power plants because they have access when designing plants to large quantities of some high-performance materials which aren't cost-effective to use in the real world. Navy plants are much smaller, and they don't have to make a profit when operating.
By the way 85 gt kid, the broomstick thing isn't only a nuke thing. Nuke plants operated at something like 400 to 600 PS and it’s not superheated. Meanwhile I was steaming 1200 PSI plants operating at nearly 1000 degrees with 400+ degrees of superheat added. I Leave it to you to decide which was REALLY more dangerous.
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Originally posted by 85 gt kid View PostWhile they didn't cause massive contamination like that certain one in Ukraine they really hurt peoples outlook on Nuclear power which is almost worse since nuclear plants seem to be on a decline. I know most people I've talked to balk at the idea but don't want fossil fuel plants either (apparently wind and solar is 100% infallible in allot of peoples eyes)
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Sir, with regards to boiler operation are they either on or off or do you run them at different pressures to match demand? I ask because with the Norway being pier side maybe her boilers were running at a reduced pressure thus explaining the smaller explosion?
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Originally posted by desertswo View PostThree Mile Island had multiple redundant features that defeated the stupidity of its operators while its Soviet counterpart did not.“He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”
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Originally posted by Gun Boat View PostSir, with regards to boiler operation are they either on or off or do you run them at different pressures to match demand? I ask because with the Norway being pier side maybe her boilers were running at a reduced pressure thus explaining the smaller explosion?
As far as Norway is concerned, according to the NTSB it was the result of years of improper maintenance, repairs, and inspections. I was a Certified Steam Generating Plant Inspector. That was a school obtained designation normally only granted to senior enlisted Boiler Technicians. Regardless, I'm the kind of guy the NTSB would call in to perform the on deck evaluation of things; just as I did in Iwo Jima. With that background, reading that truncated report found at the link I provided, the conditions identified are pretty freaking scary.Last edited by desertswo; 15 Apr 15,, 01:20.
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