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Naval Nuclear Propulsion: The Technical and Strategic Challenges of a Restricted Technology

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Proliferation Papers
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The technical and operational capabilities of naval nuclear propulsion - discretion, power, autonomy and manoeuvrability - make this technology a strategic asset for nuclear deterrence.

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Barracuda-class SSN Suffren at sea near Toulon, October 2020
Barracuda-class SSN Suffren at sea near Toulon, October 2020
© Axel Manzano/Marine Nationale
Corps analyses

As a result, while the priority of military nuclear research during the Second World War was assigned to nuclear weapons, the end of the conflict enabled scientifically advanced nations to rethink the usefulness of nuclear energy for propulsion purposes - and, first and foremost, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), motivated by the power rivalry inherent in the Cold War. This technique was gradually adopted by all nuclear-armed states, at the cost of numerous attempts and sometimes serious accidents, particularly in the USSR, stressing the importance of a culture of safety and security.

 

This historical lessons of the Cold War, in both technical and operational terms, are now fully relevant, while nuclear propulsion arouses the curiosity of new actors; India first, thanks to Soviet and then Russian support, but also Brazil, renewing its old interest in submarines. The AUKUS agreement, which provides for the sale and construction of nuclear attack submarines in Australia through a partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom, represents an even greater breakthrough in the development of nuclear propulsion in the 21st century, by enabling for the first time a non-nuclear weapon state to own nuclear powered submarines. The imperatives of safety, industrial rigour and non-proliferation argue in favour of maintaining a policy of non-exportation of this technology, and respect of the highest standards for countries already developing nuclear propulsion.

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ISBN / ISSN

979-10-373-0800-9

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Naval Nuclear Propulsion: The Technical and Strategic Challenges of a Restricted Technology

Decoration
Author(s)
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heloise fayet

Heloïse FAYET

Intitulé du poste

Research Fellow and head of the Deterrence and Proliferation program, Security Studies Center, Ifri

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Jean-Louis LOZIER

Jean-Louis LOZIER

Intitulé du poste
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 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.

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Nuclear ballistic missile submarine, in transit on the surface
Deterrence and Proliferation
Accroche centre

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Date de publication
13 June 2024
Accroche

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Date de publication
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Accroche

The war in Ukraine is a reminder of the place of attrition from high-intensity conflict in European armies that have been cut to the bone after three decades of budget cuts. All European forces have had to reduce their stocks to the bare minimum. As a result, support to Ukraine has meant a significant drain on their operational capabilities. A significant amount of decommissioned systems were also donated, due to the lack of depth in operational fleets.

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France’s Place Within NATO: Toward a Strategic Aggiornamento?

Date de publication
27 June 2023
Accroche

With a rapidly deteriorating security environment, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, internal disputes exploding into public view, and questions being raised about the scope of its security responsibilities, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) seemed to be in dire straits at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

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Date de publication
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Accroche

While major European powers may have to contemplate nuclear deterrence without America, the national flexibility and European financial support required to make it feasible is currently difficult to imagine.

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Barracuda-class SSN Suffren at sea near Toulon, October 2020
© Axel Manzano/Marine Nationale
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion: The Technical and Strategic Challenges of a Restricted Technology