this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025

11 points (100.0% liked)

Australia

4464 readers

95 users here now

A place to discuss Australia and important Australian issues.

Before you post:

If you're posting anything related to:

The Environment, post it to Aussie Environment
Politics, post it to Australian Politics
World News/Events, post it to World News
A question to Australians (from outside) post it to Ask an Australian

If you're posting Australian News (not opinion or discussion pieces) post it to Australian News

Rules

This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone. In addition to those rules:

When posting news articles use the source headline and place your commentary in a separate comment

Banner Photo

Congratulations to @Tau@aussie.zone who had the most upvoted submission to our banner photo competition

Recommended and Related Communities

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:

Plus other communities for sport and major cities.

https://aussie.zone/communities

Moderation

Since Kbin doesn't show Lemmy Moderators, I'll list them here. Also note that Kbin does not distinguish moderator comments.

Additionally, we have our instance admins: @lodion@aussie.zone and @Nath@aussie.zone

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

lodion@aussie.zone

Fluid@aussie.zone

bestusername@aussie.zone

eatham@aussie.zone

Nath@aussie.zone

The nuclear-powered submarine crisis (theecologist.org)

submitted 1 week ago by maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone to c/australia@aussie.zone

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The British experience with nuclear submarines reveals a litany of public health risks as well as delays and cost blowouts, and it can confidently be predicted that problems will beset the AUKUS submarine programme ‒ the joint development of nuclear-powered submarines by the UK, the US and Australia.

My new report prepared for Friends of the Earth Australia demonstrates that the development of a nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed nuclear submarine (SSN) fleet entails multiple public health risks and would inevitably suffer from delays and cost-blowouts.

Operational risks of SSN deployment include radiological pollution of marine and coastal environments and wildlife; risks of radioactivity doses to coastal populations; and the serious risk of dangerous collisions between civilian vessels and SSNs, especially in the approaches to busy naval and civilian sea ways and fishing grounds.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

There are many things that are technologically possible but we don't have them because they are seen as being impractical.

Nuclear subs use all the tech that would be needed for a space colony.

[–] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 4 points 1 week ago

Got it. Something about the way you phrased it the first time was confusing and I didn't know what you were getting at.

[–] Hugin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Subs have a big advantage in that they make their own oxygen from all the water around them.

[–] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

All subs or just nuclear subs?

[–] Hugin@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Any sub could but only nuclear bother. They have the power generation to run the process and stay down long enough to need it.

Other subs run on batteries and need to surface to recharge. So making oxygen would reduce how long you can stay down not extend it.

[–] TimePencil@infosec.exchange 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@Hugin

I'm probably wrong, but AFAIK subs (navy war vessels) don't actually need much "new" or "introduced" oxygen when submerged.

Us humans breathe out just as much oxygen as we breathe in - it's just that it's contaminated with carbon - CO2.

I don't think that nuclear powered subs "generate" or "create" much oxygen for the purposes of life support.

Instead, subs use CO2 "scrubbers" that are replaced at regular intervals. (See space flight, especially Apollo 13...)

As stated, "diesel electric" subs ALSO need to either surface or "snorkel" when running on diesel to recharge their batteries.

@maniacalmanicmania

[–] Hugin@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The scrubber absorbs the CO2 it doesn't break the O2 from the C. So H2O to H and O2 to CO2 to storage in the scrubber.

Here is a link to the various methods used for the steps. https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/submarines-get-oxygen/

[–] TimePencil@infosec.exchange 1 points 1 week ago

@Hugin

Ah, cool. So, O2 replenishment is still required. Ta!