Nuclear-powered ships and submarines
Over 160 vessels run on more than 200 small reactors, most of them submarines. They belong on a fuel chain site for one reason: naval propulsion is the largest use of highly enriched uranium outside weapons programmes, and the enrichment level differs by more than tenfold between navies that field comparable boats.
A 93% core never needs refuelling. It lasts the 33-year life of a Virginia-class boat, so the submarine never goes into a refit dock to have its reactor compartment cut open. That is a serious military advantage, and it is only achievable with weapons-grade material.
France decided the trade was not worth it. Its Suffren-class attack submarines run on fuel enriched to roughly the same level as a power station and refuel about every ten years. They are capable boats. That single fact is the entire non-proliferation argument about naval fuel: weapons-grade uranium at sea is a choice, not a requirement.
Fleets by country
Operational vessels as reported for late 2019, the most recent consolidated count published by the source.
| Country | Vessels | Naval fuel enrichment |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 70 | ~93% HEU |
| Russia | 40 | 20–45% |
| China | 19 | believed LEU |
| United Kingdom | 10 | HEU, supplied by the USA |
| France | 9 | 5–7% LEU |
| India | 3 | 40% |
Australia is acquiring Virginia-class submarines, the first transfer of naval nuclear propulsion, and of weapons-grade uranium, to a non-nuclear-weapons state. It has committed not to build weapons and accepted enhanced IAEA safeguards, but the precedent is new, and it is contested.
The part that touches this site directly: under the agreements Australia must dispose of all spent HEU fuel domestically, with no return provision, more than three tonnes of weapons-usable U-235 in spent fuel, in a country with no reprocessing, no repository, and a legal prohibition on nuclear power generation.
Submarines
| Class | Country | Reactor | MWt | Enrichment | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akula classSSN | Russia | OK-650B (VM-5) | 190 | - | Operating |
| Arihant classSSBN | India | Indian PWR | 83 | 40% U-235 | Operating |
| Astute classSSN | United Kingdom | PWR2 | 145 | Highly enriched | Operating |
| Borei classSSBN | Russia | OK-650 (VM-5) | 190 | 20–45% U-235 | Operating |
| Han class (Type 091)SSN | China | PWR, derived from Soviet OK-150 | 58 | - | Operating |
| Le Triomphant classSSBN | France | K15 | 150 | LEU | Operating |
| Los Angeles classSSN | United States | S6G | 165 | ~93% U-235 | Operating |
| Ohio classSSBN | United States | S8G | 220 | ~93% U-235 | Operating |
| Oscar II classSSGN | Russia | OK-650, twin ×2 | 190 | - | Operating |
| Seawolf classSSN | United States | S6W | - | ~93% U-235 | Operating |
| Suffren class (Barracuda)SSN | France | K15-derived | 150 | ~5–6% U-235 | Operating |
| Type 093 and 094 (Shang and Jin)SSN/SSBN | China | Type 93/94 | 175 | Believed low-enriched | Operating |
| Vanguard classSSBN | United Kingdom | PWR2 | 145 | - | Operating |
| Virginia classSSN | United States | S9G | 210 | ~93% U-235 | Operating |
| Yasen classSSN | Russia | OK-650 (VM-5) | 190 | 20–45% U-235 | Operating |
| Columbia classSSBN | United States | S1B | - | ~93% U-235 | Building |
| Dreadnought classSSBN | United Kingdom | PWR3 | - | Highly enriched | Building |
| AUKUS submarinesSSN | Australia | S9G | 210 | ~93% U-235 | Planned |
| Alfa classSSN | Russia | BM-40A / OK-550 | 155 | 90% U-235 | Retired |
| Typhoon classSSBN | Russia | OK-650, twin ×2 | 190 | - | Retired |
| USS NautilusSSN | United States | S2W | 10 | 93% U-235 | Retired |
| Xia class (Type 092)SSBN | China | PWR | 58 | - | Retired |
Aircraft carriers
| Class | Country | Reactor | MWt | Enrichment | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles de GaulleCVN | France | K15 ×2 | 150 | Low-enriched | Operating |
| Gerald R. Ford classCVN | United States | A1B ×2 | 700 | ~93% U-235 | Operating |
| Nimitz classCVN | United States | A4W ×2 | 550 | ~93% U-235 | Operating |
| Enterprise (CVN-65)aircraft carrier | United States | Westinghouse A2W ×8 | - | ~93% U-235 | Retired |
Icebreakers
| Class | Country | Reactor | MWt | Enrichment | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project 22220 (LK-60) | Russia | RITM-200 ×2 | 175 | Under 20% U-235 | Operating |
| Taymyr class | Russia | KLT-40M | 171 | HALEU | Operating |
| Project 10510 Lider | Russia | RITM-400 ×2 | 315 | - | Building |
| Arktika class | Russia | OK-900A ×2 | 171 | - | Retired |
| Lenin | Russia | OK-150, later OK-900 ×2 | 171 | - | Retired |
Civil cargo ships
| Class | Country | Reactor | MWt | Enrichment | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NS Sevmorput | Russia | KLT-40 | 135 | - | Operating |
| Mutsu | Japan | Integral PWR | 36 | - | Retired |
| NS Savannah | United States | Babcock & Wilcox PWR | 74 | 4.2–4.6% U-235 | Retired |
| Otto Hahn | Germany | Integral PWR | 36 | - | Retired |
Where this connects to the rest of the site
- Every PWR descends from a submarine. The pressurised water reactor exists because the US Navy needed a boat that never had to surface. 743 units now use that fuel family.
- Naval work keeps HALEU capability alive. BWXT's Erwin facility is the only US commercial plant licensed to handle category 1 special nuclear material at scale, a capability sustained by naval fuel work, and now one of the few routes to HALEU for advanced reactors.
- Icebreaker reactors became SMRs. The RITM-200 powering Project 22220 icebreakers is the direct ancestor of the land-based small modular reactor Rosatom is building in Yakutia, real operating heritage, which almost no SMR design has.
Sources
- World Nuclear Association, Nuclear-Powered Ships · retrieved 2026-09-07
- Australian Submarine Agency, AUKUS naval nuclear propulsion agreements
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data