Nuclear navy Nuclear navy , or nuclear - powered navy consists of ships powered by relatively small onboard nuclear reactors known as naval reactors . The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed , as it meant that these vessels did not need to stop for fuel like their conventional counterparts , being limited only by crew endurance and supplies . Nuclear - powered aircraft carriers . The United States Navy has by far the most nuclear - powered aircraft carrier s , with ten in service as of 1 December 2012 , when the USS Enterprise CVN - 65 was deactivated . France ' s latest aircraft carrier , the " R91 Charles de Gaulle " , is nuclear - powered . The United Kingdom rejected nuclear power early in the development of its " Queen Elizabeth " - class aircraft carrier s on cost grounds , as even several decades of fuel use costs less than a nuclear reactor . Nuclear - powered submarines . The United States Navy operates the largest fleet of nuclear submarines . Only the United States Navy , the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom , and France ' s " Marine Nationale " field an all - nuclear submarine force . By 1989 , there were over 400 nuclear - powered submarines operational or being built . Some 250 of these submarines have now been scrapped and some on order cancelled , due to weapons reduction programs . Russia and the United States had over one hundred each , with the United Kingdom and France fewer than twenty each and China six . The Indian Navy launched their first indigenous " Arihant " class nuclear - powered submarines on 26 July 2009 . India is also reported to be leasing two additional nuclear submarines from Russia . Nuclear - powered submarines can stay submerged for up to 400 days if the vessel is fully loaded . Other nuclear - powered vessels . The United States no longer has nuclear cruiser s . Russia has four " Kirov " - class battlecruisers , though only one is active , the other three being laid up . The Soviet command ship " SSV - 33 Ural " , based on the Kirov class , is also laid up . Seven civilian nuclear icebreaker s remain in service : four of six Arktika class icebreaker s , " Taymyr " , " Vaygach " , and the LASH carrier and container ship " Sevmorput " . The United States Navy . The U . S . Navy has accumulated over 5 , 400 " reactor years " of accident - free experience , and operates more than 80 nuclear - powered ships . Admiral Hyman G . Rickover . Admiral Hyman G . Rickover , ( 1900 – 1986 ) , of the United States Navy , known as " father of the nuclear navy " was an electrical engineer by training , and was the primary architect who implemented this daring concept , and believed that it was the natural next phase for the way military vessels could be propelled and powered . The challenge was to reduce the size of a nuclear reactor to fit on board a ship or submarine , as well as to encase it sufficiently so that radiation hazards would not be a safety concern . Soon after World War II , Rickover was assigned to the Bureau of Ships in September 1947 and received training in nuclear power at Oak Ridge , Tennessee . In February 1949 he received an assignment to the Division of Reactor Development , U . S . Atomic Energy Commission and then assumed control of the United States Navy ' s effort as Director of the Naval Reactors Branch in the Bureau of Ships . This dual role allowed him to lead the efforts to develop the world ' s first nuclear - powered submarine , USS " Nautilus " ( SSN 571 ) , which was launched in 1954 . As Vice Admiral , from 1958 , for three decades Rickover exercised tight control over the ships , technology , and personnel of the nuclear navy , even interviewing every prospective officer for new nuclear - powered navy vessels . Philip Abelson . Leading nuclear physicist Philip Abelson ( 1913 – 2004 ) turned his attention under the guidance of Ross Gunn to applying nuclear power to naval propulsion . Their early efforts at Naval Research Laboratory ( NRL ) provided an early glimpse at what was to become the nuclear Navy . United States Naval reactors . At the present time , many important vessels in the United States Navy are powered by naval reactors . All submarines and aircraft carriers are nuclear - powered . Several cruisers were nuclear - powered but these have all been retired . United States naval reactors are given three - character designations consisting of a letter representing the ship type the reactor is designed for , a consecutive generation number , and a letter indicating the reactor ' s designer . The ship types are " A " for aircraft carrier , " C " for cruiser , " D " for destroyer , and " S " for submarine . The designers are " W " for Westinghouse , " G " for General Electric , " C " for Combustion Engineering , and " B " for Bechtel . Examples are S5W , D1G , A4W , and D2W . Most information concerning United States naval reactors is not secret — see Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information .