Nuclear propulsion

There are currently two methods for nuclear propulsion, civil and military:

1. Through nuclear reactors.
2. By electrical generation by radioactive isotopes.

The first one is the option used in nuclear ships, such as submarines, aircraft carriers, cruise ships, icebreakers and others. One or several reactors can be housed in them, of any of the existing types, although the safest, and the most used up to now, are the PWR type. For example, the US Navy aircraft carrier Enterprise was powered by 8 PWR type reactors of 80 MW each. Submarines have been the clearest option in terms of the use of this propulsion system, giving them autonomy never achieved by any other system. An example of these is the Tireless of the Royal Navy. In this type of reactor, the alternator for electrical generation that generally accompanies the turbine in nuclear power plants is replaced by a shaft coupled to one or more propellers. These ships, in addition to not needing any kind of refueling for several months, and even years, depending on their activity, have incredible maneuverability and acceleration conditions. For this reason they are also used civilly in icebreakers.

The second of the aforementioned nuclear propulsions is used in artificial satellites. Due to the continuous release of heat or electrons from radioactive materials such as plutonium or highly enriched uranium, they can be used for power generation in conditions where no other methods are possible, such as in the absence of sunlight. These particles accelerated by accelerators to speeds close to that of light can also be used, obtaining continuous and constant accelerations, although small, up to speeds greater than those that can be achieved with the usual chemical propellants.