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Why does a nuclear reactor allow a submarine to operate underwater without oxygen?
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submarine
The former USS Nautilus, launched in 1954, being towed to Groton, Connecticut, to become a museum, May 1985.
A nuclear reactor allows a submarine to operate underwater without oxygen because it does not rely on fossil-fuel combustion to generate power.1
Unlike conventional diesel-electric submarines, which must surface periodically to run their engines using atmospheric air, a nuclear reactor produces heat through nuclear fission of uranium. This heat is used to create steam, which drives a steam turbine to power the vessel's propeller. Because this process is entirely self-contained and does not require the intake of oxygen for combustion, a nuclear-powered submarine can remain submerged for weeks at a time, providing a significant strategic advantage in operational range and endurance.213