The A4W reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to propel warships and generate onboard electricity.

The A4W designation stands for:

  • A = Aircraft carrier platform
  • 4 = Contractor's fourth core design generation
  • W = Westinghouse, the contracted designer

History

These nuclear fission pressurized water reactors (PWRs) were jointly designed by Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory[1] and built by Westinghouse Electric Company. Their reactor cores are expected to operate for about 25 years before refueling is required.[1] The only ships to use these nuclear reactors are the Nimitz-class supercarriers, which have two reactors rated at 550 MWth each. These generate enough steam to produce 140,000 shaft horsepower (104 MW) for each pair of the ship's four shafts[2] – two per propulsion plant – plus approximately 100 MW of electricity.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "A4W". US Navy Propulsion Systems. Federation of American Scientists. 1999-02-27. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-16. current cores for the NIMITZ Class aircraft carrier ... last on average about 20 years
  2. ↑ "US Navy Propulsion Systems". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-16. power per reactor ... 140,000 shp
  • (correcting for the power output from 500 megawatts to 105.)
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