S6W reactor

The S6W reactor is a naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The S6W designation stands for:

S, Submarine platform
6, Sixth generation core designed by the contractor
W, Westinghouse was the contracted designer

History

This pressurized water reactor was prototyped in the land-based S8G plant at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory's Kesselring Site in West Milton, NY starting in March 1994.
The three ships of the,, and submarines were built with S6W reactors.

Design

The S6W has a thermal power output of and a shaft power output of through 2 steam turbines. It is believed to be able to utilize natural circulation at a large fraction of its full power without coolant pumps, which greatly reduces noise.