I didn't say that, I said nuclear reactor for submarine propulsion.
Building a nuclear bomb for most countries is not difficult the barrier is political not necessarily technical FYI.
Why don't you respond to Deino, he is far more blunt in his assessment, I just said its very difficult, he is straight up saying no chance at all. lol
Its important to have a coherent rational outlook in capabilities and not blow smoke up your own @$$.
Nuclear submarine propulsion is insanely difficult, not necessarily just b/c its a reactor, but it has to be a small reactor with the power capacity needed and thats not even the hardest part, the hardest part is building it to be DEAD QUIET, otherwise its useless for a submarine.
I gave you tangible examples of how it took till 2006 for China to build a somewhat viable nuclear submarine(and its reactor), and yet it was still noisier than Submarines made by the Soviets who collapsed 2 decades before that.
Thats a tangible example, you responded with OMG you Don't Know We Have a PhD Nobel Prize winner. Like get serious man.
I'm not even a hater or anything, Infact I want Pakistan to develop a nuclear submarine submarine, but if you think this thing is easy, you have no idea.
The hardest part of the nuclear submarine is the reactor and to make it quiet, the vessel itself is not as difficult, if someone has experience building submarines, they can easily make the shell the reactor goes around to power. There are many submarine builders, but not many nuclear submarine builders. Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands Japan, South Korea, they can all build submarines. None have built nuclear submarines yet, even in Japan's case which has an extensive Nuclear program as well as South Korea which also has a budding nuclear program. Its not simply a lack of political will, b/c the South Koreans certainly have the political will.
Sorry but this is where your argument is flawed.
Why does it need to be "DEAD QUIET"?
The answer is, it doesn't. Its the first iteration, it needs to work, that it. As simple as. It could be as loud as a chimpanzee with cymbals. It literally does not matter, all it needs to do is work. It needs to function to collect data, to train crews and gain experience while further iterations are developed. Literally nothing more, nothing less. Parallel development of a second generation reactor while the first is developed, even if it is as loud as a 1950's design, it literally does not matter, so long as it powers the boat, that is ALL that is needed. I dont know why you jump to the most extreme scenario of it needs to be quieter than every other sub in the world...
I will respond to @Dieno, Respectfully, and you know how much i respect and admire your work Andy, that this is an area where your work isnt entirely focused on so i can imagine, from a very surface level view, it looks quite far fetched, but as
@Quwa mentioned, the amount of research, the amount of dedication and resources spent on our Nuclear industry are far beyond what meet the eye. As bilal mentioned, you should read "we will eat grass" and you'll understand.
Beyond this, PAEC has publicly stated that it is perfectly feasible for them to design and deploy their own SMR's, that they need the government to take the technology seriously and that they believe ditching large plants, in favour of numerous SMR stations designed in house is a better solution. Of course, the government and other stakeholders would not take such a proposition seriously because there is alot less benefit for them, bribes, favour etc.
The reason SK, Japan etc have not gone nuclear is simple, will the Yanks allow them to do so? Certainly not. In the same way, the Yanks have done whatever they can to prevent ANY further nuclear advancements for Pakistan. Our energy and weapons program is probably up there in sanctions with North Korea, yet, even then, PAEC is confident enough to try to lobby for local development of a SMR, says everything we need to know. PAEC is not PAC, not AvRID, etc, who come out with flashy statements with no backing. PAEC has a proven track record, if someone words are to be taken at value, its theirs.
The capability exists, the funding does not, the risk is also high. Its a high risk, high reward program. We know Pakistan wants a nuke boat, we know nobody will sell it one, we then know, this means they will get one themselves, this is something that i, among many are confident in. PN/NRDI would need to be very involved, which risks serious issues for the Navy in the form of sanctions, it is something that would need significant planning and resources to be able to avoid crippling the Navy's other projects. Remember, the Navy has significant experience with MESMA, they have literally given us part of the equation. MESMA uses a ethanol oxygen mixture to create heat to drive a closed cycle steam turbine, replacing the heat generated from a fission reaction. The PN needs a reactor, PAEC is capable of developing the reactor, there is a third party needed, this third party needs to be able to absorb the risk of the project, that is where the key issue lies, they need a financier.
