Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T16:09:53.713Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Nuclear-Powered Vessels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2021

By
Richard John (Jan) Pentreath
Edited by
Stephen de Mora ,
Timothy Fileman  and
Thomas Vance
Stephen de Mora
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Timothy Fileman
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Thomas Vance
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Get access

Summary

This chapter outlines the development of nuclear-powered marine propulsion, considering submarines and other naval vessels, together with icebreakers and unsuccessful commercial ships. During shipboard operations, nuclear wastes such as metallic and gaseous radioisotopes are captured by ion exchange and eventually returned to land for disposal. The principal environmental concerns with respect to all reactor operations, apart from something going wrong, are the issues surrounding the decommissioning and ultimate disposal of the spent nuclear fuel, the reactor, and other components that have become contaminated or made radioactive as a result of neutron activation. Incidents relating to nuclear powered submarines are catalogues, noting that the fate of some of the vessels remain unknown. Finally, the Human and environmental consequences of reactors lost and dumped at sea are discussed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Environmental Impact of Ships , pp. 282 - 302
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AMAP (1998). AMAP Assessment Report: Arctic Pollution Issues. Oslo: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.Google Scholar
EA, FSA, FSS, NRW, NIEA & SEPA (2017). Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 2016. RIFE-22. Lowestoft: CEFAS.Google Scholar
Hirdaris, S. E., Cheng, Y. F., Shallcross, P. et al. (2014). Considerations on the potential use of nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) technology for merchant marine propulsion, Ocean Engineering 79, 101–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IAEA (1988). Assessing the Impact of Deep Sea Disposal of Low Level Radioactive Waste on Living Marine Resources. Technical Reports Series No. 288. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
IAEA (1997). Predicted Radioactive Release from Marine Reactors Dumped in the Kara Sea. IAEA-TECDOC-938. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
IAEA (1998). Radiological Conditions of the Western Kara Sea. Report of the International Arctic Seas Assessment Project (IASAP). Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
IAEA (1999). Radioactivity in the Arctic Seas. IAEA-TECDOC-1075. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
ICRP (2007). The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication 103, Ann. ICRP 37 (2–4). Ottawa: International Commission on Radiological Protection.Google Scholar
ICRP (2008). Environmental Protection: The Concept and Use of Reference Animals and Plants. ICRP Publication 108. Ann. ICRP 38 (4-6). Ottawa: International Commission on Radiological Protection.Google Scholar
ICRP (2014). Protection of the Environment under Different Exposure Situations. ICRP Publication 124. Ann. ICRP 43 (1). Ottawa: International Commission on Radiological Protection.Google Scholar
IGMCO (1980). Safety Recommendations on the Use of Ports by Nuclear Merchant Ships. London: Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
IMC (1962) Brussels’ Convention, 1962: Liability of Operators of Nuclear Ships. Convention on the Liability of Operators of Nuclear Ships and Additional Protocol. Brussels: Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, International Maritime Committee.Google Scholar
IMO (1972). International Conference on the Convention of Dumping Wastes at Sea, London, Final Act of the Conference with Attachment Including the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter. London: International Maritime Organization.Google Scholar
IMO (1982). Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships. London: International Maritime Organization.Google Scholar
IMO (1993). Resolution LC.51(16): Report of the Sixteenth Consultative Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, LC 16/14. London: International Maritime Organization.Google Scholar
Pentreath, R. J. & Woodhead, D. S. (1988). Towards the development of criteria for the protection of marine fauna in relation to the disposal of radioactive wastes into the sea. In: Radiation Protection in Nuclear Energy. Proc Conf, IAEA-CN-51, IAEA, Vienna, Vol. 2, 213–243. https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:20026319Google Scholar
US ONR (2014). Occupational Radiation Exposure from Naval Eeactors’ DOE Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme. Report NT-14-3 2014. Washington, DC: Office of Naval Reactors.Google Scholar
Woodhead, D. S. (1979). Methods of dosimetry for aquatic organisms. In: Methodology for Assessing Impacts of Radioactivity on Aquatic Ecosystems. Technical Reports Series No. 190. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, pp. 43–96.Google Scholar
Woodhead, D. S. (1986). The radiation exposure of blackheaded gulls (Larus ridibundus) in the Ravenglass Estuary, Cumbria, UK: a preliminary assessment. Science of the Total Environment 58, 273–281.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×