St. Petersburg developer Nikolay Kirillov has designed a naval torpedo with a compact nuclear power plant. The document was published in the Rospatent database.
The main feature of the project is the use of pentane or toluene as a coolant instead of the classic scheme with high-pressure water.
According to Kirillov's design, this will reduce pressure and temperature inside the unit, decrease the size of the turbine, and simplify the power system.
The patent describes the concept of a large torpedo with a boiling-type nuclear reactor. The design is divided into several modular compartments: a nose section with a guidance system, a central block with the reactor, and an aft section with a propulsion unit and turbine.
The organic coolant vapor is intended to flow to a turbine connected to the propeller shaft via a gearbox. Additionally, the scheme includes an electric generator to power control systems and batteries.
