S6W reactor
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The S6W reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The S6W designation stands for:
- S, Submarine platform
- 6, Sixth generation core designed by the contractor
- W, Westinghouse was the contracted designer
History
Template:More citations needed This pressurized water reactor was prototyped in the land-based S8G plant at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory's Kesselring Site in West Milton, NY starting in March 1994.
The three ships of the Template:Sclass Template:USS, Template:USS, and Template:USS submarines were built with S6W reactors.
Design
The S6W has a thermal power output of Template:Cvt and a shaft power output of Template:Cvt through 2 steam turbines.[1][2] It is believed to be able to utilize natural circulation at a large fraction of its full power without coolant pumps,[2] which greatly reduces noise.[3]