New reactor control system for Vengeance

The UK Royal Navy Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) HMS Vengeance is to be the first boat of its class to receive a new Reactor Control and Instrumentation (RC&I) system.

Installation of the new system – intended to become a fleet-wide fit in due course – has begun as part of Vengeance 's current Long Overhaul Period (Refuel) (LOP(R)), being undertaken by Babcock at Devonport Royal Dockyard.

Developed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce, the new RC&I system will replace the legacy Pressurised Water Reactor 2 (PWR2) RC&I system designed in the mid-1980s. The latter is increasingly costly to maintain as a result of component obsolescence.

According to Babcock and Rolls-Royce, the new 'obsolescence-tolerant' RC&I design will provide long-term support and availability of PWR2 plants. The first RC&I update installation, performed at the Shore Test Facility at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment in the north of Scotland earlier in 2012, was led and completed by Rolls-Royce and supported by Babcock. Experience from this installation has been captured for the first-of-class fit on Vengeance now being undertaken by Babcock and supported by Rolls-Royce.