Reactor put in INS Arihant for the first time

 

 

In a major step towards achieving the ability to launch nuclear payload from air, land and water, the heart of indigenous nuclear submarine – its nuclear reactor – was installed in INS Arihant and trials were conducted.

The miniature 83 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuelled by highly enriched uranium was developed with the help of Russians. The submarine was launched into the water last year and began its “sea acceptance trials” (SAT) earlier this year wherein it was taken out of the harbor to conduct crucial trials.

“The nuclear reactor was fitted into the submarine for the first time some time back. And since it is first time that India has built a miniature nuclear reactor for moving platform it has to be tested when the submarine undergoes various kinds of motion like rolling and pitching,” sources said.

So far shore-based nuclear reactor had been made by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, but in case of INS Arihant (literally meaning slayer of enemies) the challenge was to make a compact reactor to fit into the 10 m diameter hull of the submarine. The enriched uranium for the reactor comes from the Rare Materials Project, an undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), situated at Ratnahallai, near Mysore. With INS Arihant India has become the sixth country after the US, Russia, China, France and Britain to have succeeded in constructing a nuclear submarine.

“The reactor since then has been taken out of the platform and the teething problems witnessed during the trial are being addressed to. The process will be repeated several times to make it foolproof.

“Unlike other platforms, the submarine will remain submerged for many months so the crew has to be confident to handle the machine in case of contingency as no external help could be provided to them,” the sources added. At the end of the trial Arihant will be given a nuclear regulatory authority certification before it could be deployed in the open oceans.

As India has a policy of “no first use” of nuclear weapons, a robust and survivable retaliatory strike capability is dependent on this nuclear-powered submarine. In this wake, Arihant is a shot in the arm for India’s nuclear triad. With its ability to remain submerged in the waters for infinite time, Arihant with its stealth can remain undetected by the army and can fire its nuclear-tipped missiles from under the sea.

Arihant will be armed with 12 nuclear-tipped submarine launched missile K-15 with a range of 750 km. Plans are afoot to equip it with four K-4 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) with a range of 3,500 km later. Presently, the K-4 is under-development.

With Indian Navy’s submarine fleet down to 14, a major overhaul is the need of the hour especially when compared to neighbouring China that is known to operate 8-10 nuclear powered submarines and 50-60 conventional ones.