Australia is set to provide $3 billion to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time.
    • Skua@kbin.social
      6·
      2 years ago

      They’re actually American-built!

      The Virginia-class submarines will be primarily from a U.K. design and will have a U.S. weapons system onboard.

      oh no

      • assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 years ago

        The virginia class will be US built but the aukus class will be as described. I don’t imagine we’ll be getting them any time soon if at all and the budget will almost certainly blow out. Australia honestly been taken for a ride with this deal.

  • metaStatic@kbin.social
    4·
    2 years ago

    I bet the front doesn’t even fall off … after considerable budget overruns the taxpayer is already on the hook for that is.

  • auth@lemmy.ml
    3·
    2 years ago

    how about nuclear-powered cars? so I can drive 1 year on 1 tank… or 5 years on my motorcycle… too bad they are so focused on weapons.

    • constantokra@lemmy.one
      6·
      2 years ago

      There’s a nuclear test site in Georgia where the us government did preliminary tests for a nuclear powered airplane. It was bat shit insane. It seems the idea was not to shield the reactor, but to only shield the crew, and rely on distance and speed to not irradiate basically everything else.

      To that end, they built a nuclear reactor that could be hoisted in and out of a hole in the ground so that it could be run unshielded above ground. They tested the effects on all sorts of materials, and a huge swath of surrounding woods, including all the creatures there, which promptly died.

      It’s now a recreational area, and considered generally safe, except for a few small, fenced off areas.

      So my point is, watch what you wish for.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      2 years ago

      They’ve tried it. It’s too dangerous to have that much nuclear material running around. Not only does it make sourcing for a dirty bomb very easy, but it’s also a question of disposal, and how to contain it in a collision.

      • auth@lemmy.ml
        1·
        2 years ago

        maybe I could be the only one owning one… problem solved. I think the containment in case of collision probably could be solve 90% of the time…