Nuclear Power Is USN’s Future: Lawmakers
The U.S. Navy should be required to use nuclear power to propel its new large surface ships, starting with its next-generation cruisers, two top members of the House Armed Services Committee said.
Reps. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., and Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., told Defense News sister publication Navy Times on Nov. 7 that nuclear power is the “right way to go” in light of the rising cost of fossil fuels and the benefit of being able to spend more time at sea without having to refuel.
Language in the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill calls for nuclear power to be used in all large vessels, including destroyers and cruisers. The Senate version of the bill contains no such provision. Taylor said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., strongly supports the nuclear power measure in the House bill and is fighting to keep it. But some senators have argued that requiring nuclear propulsion on surface ships would be too costly for a service already struggling with its shipbuilding plans.
Bartlett and Taylor argue nuclear power would be cheaper in the long run, with the cost of oil at nearly $100 dollars per barrel.
“If you look at the enormous cost escalation we’ve seen with the [Littoral Combat Ship program] because we’re dealing with unknowns and something that is new and different, nuclear propulsion has been around a long time,” Taylor said. “The cost of a nuclear power plant is a known entity.”
Bartlett said he thinks the Senate has been hesitant to support the measure “solely because of the up-front costs.” Up-front cost estimates for nuclear-powered ships range from $600 million to $800 million more than conventional ships.
The price would come down with orders for nuclear-powered ships, Taylor said.
Only two U.S.-based shipbuilders are certified by the Navy to build nuclear-powered ships: Northrop Grumman’s Newport News facility in Virginia, which builds aircraft carriers and submarines, and General Dynamics’ Electric Boat division in Connecticut and Rhode Island, which builds subs.
Taylor said that if the measure becomes law, other shipyards, such as Northrop’s Ingalls shipyard in his district in Mississippi and General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, would be encouraged to become nuclear-certified.
The first Navy ship that would be affected by the measure is the next-generation cruiser, CG(X). The service plans to build 19 of the ships between 2011 and 2023.
The Navy deactivated its last nuclear cruiser in 1998.
“Operationally, these [surface ships] are supporting carriers and submarines that are fueled for 30, 33 years and these ships are fueled in three to five days,” Bartlett said. “Operationally, it makes a whole lot of sense to go nuclear.”
Current warships could be at risk because they depend on oilers to refuel at sea, Bartlett said. Navy visions of electric-drive ships and laser weapons will need the enormous amounts of power that nuclear plants can generate, he said.
Barlett said he had a “long talk” with Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead, and thought cost was the only argument the CNO had against nuclear propulsion for surface vessels.
When life-cycle costs are considered, however, Bartlett said the additional cost up front is “easily explained” to U.S. taxpayers.
