Military Applications of Nuclear Power Plants

This chapter examines the military applications of nuclear power plants. It examines their historical dimension, their present status and likely future applications. The US armed forces are looking at reducing power supply vulnerabilities and operating costs, and also reducing petroleum dependence. During their operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US armed forces had difficulty in getting huge quantities of fuel for the power needs of remote operating bases. The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) reportedly uses some of these to power satellites and other spacecraft. The nuclear reactors and/or fissile material will also have to be safeguarded from possible theft or capture by terrorist groups. Nuclear-powered submarines have small reactors that provide propulsion. Their advantage over conventional diesel-electric submarines is based on the fact that they are independent of air and do not need to surface off and on to run the diesel generator to charge the batteries.