[ RadSafe ] Safety Issues Linger as Nuclear Reactors Shrink in Size

[Doug Huffman]

On 3/19/2010 11:42, Brennan, Mike (DOH) wrote:
> I am a fan of the idea of smaller, modular reactors, but I have to agree
> with the environmentalists who are not impressed with liquid metal
> cooled reactors.  They have great characteristics, and made the Alfa
> class submarines a nightmare (I was on Active Duty when the Alfa first
> came out, and there was much discontent when it became clear that they
> could go faster and deeper than our torpedoes.)  However, any reactor
> that only gets to shut down once, whether it has been running decades or
> weeks, has a real downside.
>

USS Seawolf SSN-575 was commissioned in 1957 with a liquid-sodium plant 
and converted to light water S2W two years later due to lessons learned 
then and now forgotten?