

Could nuclear US Navy ships provide emergency backup power to Japan? - bhousel
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=52136

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jedc
Former US Navy submarine officer here. The easy answer is no. The turbine
generators are much smaller than the main engines and are designed to take
much less load. Also, the cables, breakers, and connections can't handle that
kind of electrical load.

But the longer answer is that yes, it is possible. When subs and other ships
tie up to the pier, we connect cables to connect the boat to "shore power."
Reverse the flow, and the boat powers the shore facilities. It's just that the
power that can get from the boat to the shore is nowhere near the amount of
power that's needed.

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jedc
Specific data:

S6G full power: ~165 MW (A fraction of that available for electrical power) -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S6G_reactor>

Affected Japanese reactors: 785 MW _each_ (All available for electrical power)
- <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_I_Nuclear_Power_Plant>

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bhousel
Cool, thanks for that!

I wasn't thinking that a sub could completely replace all of the power lost by
the nuclear power plant, just that one could provide enough for emergency
services. It's really just a thought experiment.

And this is the power plant in the USS Ronald Reagan nearby (I guess there are
2 which each provide 104MW): <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A4W_reactor>

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jedc
I'd say the real problem is that the power circuitry _within_ the boats/ships
are designed to handle quite a bit of load. But the physical connections
_on/off_ the boat are likely not designed to carry it. To do this properly
would require some redesign of Navy ships/boats.

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lucasjung
After the "World Series Earthquake" (aka 1989 Point Loma Earthquake), nuclear
subs from Alameda crossed the bay and provided power to San Francisco.

If you're asking if this could be used to help with the failing Japanese
reactors, it's too late. _If_ U.S. nuclear ships had somehow managed to get up
there and get connected in time to provide power before the plant's battery
backups ran out, then uninterrupted cooling could have been maintained and the
meltdowns prevented. Things are now well past that point, and now it's just a
matter of keeping the radiation contained to the greatest degree possible as
the meltdown continues, and finding a way to seal everything up permanently
without killing anyone.

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bhousel
Yeah, once the reactors are doused with seawater they're done.

But there are plenty of other facilities that need emergency power now -
hospitals, water treatment plants, the other reactors that aren't yet ruined.

It would be useful and awesome if US ships and subs carried the necessary
equipment and were trained in how to provide emergency power to disaster-
stricken places.

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lucasjung
Every U.S. ship has the necessary connections to connect to land-based power
grids. Normally these are used to draw power into the ship, but they can be
made to work both ways. Even non-nuclear ships can push power, at least until
they run out of fuel. The big problem is that the power grid is usually
deavily damaged by the disaster (or non-existent to begin with in some
countries), so there's nothing for the ship(s) to hook up to.

Even without tying up at the pier to push power, an aircraft carrier or large
amphibious ship can provide tremendous support: desalinization plants capable
of producing thousands of gallons of fresh water each day, helicopters capable
of conducting search and rescue and/or transporting relief supplies, doctors
and corpsmen trained in field medicine, command and control aircraft to tame
all of the chaos listed above, etc.

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abizzy
Thank you all for the feedback, glad to have found this thread. I've been
curious about the ability to provide enough power and fresh water to avert
disaster in some of the reactors not beyond repair. Have yet to hear much
about this in the news, is there any information that this has been discussed;
as well, why the lack of nuclear experts/techs on site as opposed to a
seemingly small number of private employees. Certainly hope a sense of
pride/responsiblity is not impeding help and safety.

