The D2G reactor was a naval reactor

United States Naval reactor

United States Naval reactor refers to nuclear reactors used by the United States Navy aboard certain ships to produce power for propulsion, electric power, catapulting airplanes in aircraft carriers, and a few more minor uses. Such Naval nuclear reactors have a complete power plant associated with...

 used by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to provide electricity generation

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...

 and propulsion

Nuclear marine propulsion

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...

 on warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

s. The D2G designation stands for:

• D = Destroyer
  Destroyer
  In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
  
   platform
• 2 = Second generation core
  Nuclear reactor core
  A nuclear reactor core is the portion of a nuclear reactor containing the nuclear fuel components where the nuclear reactions take place.- Description :...
  
   designed by the contractor
• G = General Electric
  General Electric
  General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
  
   was the contracted designer

This model of nuclear reactor

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

 was installed on the Bainbridge

Bainbridge class cruiser

' was a nuclear-powered version of the double-ended guided missile frigate. Originally a guided missile destroyer leader, the class was re-designated guided missile cruiser in 1975...

, Truxtun

Truxtun class cruiser

The Truxtun class cruiser was a nuclear-powered class of single-ended guided missile cruisers based on a heavily modified version of the Belknap class...

, California

California class cruiser

The California class cruisers were a set of two of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers operated by the United States Navy between 1974 and 1998. Other than their nuclear power supply and lack of helicopter hangars, ships of the California class were comparable to other guided missile cruisers...

, and Virginia

Virginia class cruiser

The Virginia-class nuclear guided-missile cruisers were a series of four double-ended guided-missile cruisers commissioned in the late 1970s, which served in the US Navy until the mid- to late-1990s...

 classes of guided missile

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

 cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s. The only nuclear-powered cruiser in the United States Navy not equipped with a D2G reactor was the world's first nuclear cruiser, the USS Long Beach (CGN-9)

USS Long Beach (CGN-9)

USS Long Beach was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She was the only ship of her class....

, which used a C1W reactor

C1W reactor

The C1W reactor is a nuclear reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. C1W reactors, like all United States Naval reactors, are pressurized water reactors...

. All of the Navy's nuclear cruisers have been decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

.

Operation

Rated for a maximum thermal output of 150 megawatts, the reactors were designed to last 15 years with normal usage. The Navy's nuclear cruisers were outfitted with two reactors per ship, each having the ability to cross-connect the steam and condensate systems between plants to power both engine rooms from a single reactor. With both reactors running and the steam plants split, the average cruiser could reach 32 knots (59.2 km/h). With one reactor running and the steam plants cross-connected, the ship could reach 25–27 knots (46.3–50 km/h). With one reactor running, the steam plants split, and running on one shaft, the ship could reach only 15 knots (27.7 km/h).

Design

These reactors were boron

Boron

Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...

-doped vertically for longer core life, and axially for even power distribution without hot spots. They employ 12 X-shaped control rod

Control rod

A control rod is a rod made of chemical elements capable of absorbing many neutrons without fissioning themselves. They are used in nuclear reactors to control the rate of fission of uranium and plutonium...

s driven by DC

Direct current

Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...

-powered movable armature reluctance motors. Three main loops driven by three variable-speed reactor coolant pumps supplied three steam generators with water, which in turn supplied saturated steam to the engine room.