Conceptual design of an electric power source for a 6.5km class research submersible

not registered; Haga, Kazuo

Conceptual design of a 200kWe power source for a 6.5 km class research submersible was performed by using a sodium and a lithium cooled high temperature reactors and a closed Brayton cycle system. The SPECTRA, which had been already designed as a portable reactor, was employed in the conceptual design. A pressure hull, made of high strength steel containing 10 % Ni, had the shape of two spheres connected horizontally, which had the same inner diameter of 3 m. Heat removal from the reactor system was by heat transfer to the sea water after thermal conduction through the pressure hull. The conceptual design work confirmed the technical availability of this system as the power source for the deep sea research submersible.