On October 4, 2023, at the Brazilian special shipyard of underwater shipbuilding Itaguai Construçoes Navais (ICN) in the Gulf of Sepetiba in the state of Rio de Janeiro, an official ceremony of cutting the first steel in the process of building the first Brazilian nuclear submarine (NPS) took place, formally marking the beginning of the construction of this ship, designated SN-BR, under the Submarino Convencionalmente program Armado com Propulsão Nuclear (SCPN).
The ceremony of cutting the first steel during the construction of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR under the Submarino Convencionalmente Armado com Propulsão Nuclear (SCPN) program at the Brazilian special shipyard of underwater shipbuilding Itaguai Construçoes Navais (ICN), 04.10.2023 (c) www.naval.com.br
In fact, however, on October 4, the steel cutting took place at ICN, not the actual hull of the future Brazilian submarine, but the 100-ton experimental segment of the durable hull under construction ("qualification section" - Seção de Qualificação), on which it is supposed to work out the manufacture of the durable hull of the boat. This segment will undergo separate tests and will not be used for the construction of the hull of the boat. If the "qualification section" fully meets the requirements, ICN will begin work on the construction of the actual hull of the most advanced Brazilian submarine, which, according to current plans, is optimistically expected to be launched in 2029 (although sometimes the date 2031 is called more cautiously) and for the commissioning of the Brazilian Navy in 2032-2035.
The Brazilian program for the development of nuclear submarines was launched in 1976 and, due to obvious foreign policy restrictions, was based on the idea of creating a completely independent nuclear power plant technology with its own nuclear cycle. Although due to political, technological and economic circumstances, the Brazilian program progressed with significant delays and periodic interruptions, however, by the 2000s Brazil managed to achieve this goal by creating its own nuclear power plant elements and its own centrifuge technology for nuclear fuel enrichment. In 2018, a prototype of the Brazilian outboard nuclear reactor Reator Multiuso Brasileiro (LABGENE) water-water type on highly enriched uranium fuel was launched at the ARAMAR Nuclear Research Center in Ipero (Sao Paulo). Currently, ARAMAR is completing the construction of a bench prototype of a complete boat nuclear power plant.
The design of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine itself was started in partnership with the French side under the Programa de Desenvolvimento de Submarinos (PROSUB) program in accordance with an agreement concluded in September 2009 by the Brazilian Ministry of Defense with the French shipbuilding association DCNS (now Naval Group). The latter acts as the general contractor for the supply to the Brazilian Navy by 2025 of four large diesel-electric submarines of the French Scorpene project and the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR in the framework of the SCPN program. To implement this agreement, within the framework of a joint venture between DCNS (Naval Group, 41% share) and the Brazilian Odebrecht Group (59%, then this share went to the Brazilian state), a new special Itaguai Construçoes Navais (ICN) submarine shipyard was built in Brazil in the Gulf of Sepetiba, where the construction of four Scorpene submarines was started., the lead of which S 40 Riachuelo was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy in 2022.
The design of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR, tentatively named SN 10 Alvaro Alberto (in honor of Vice Admiral Alvaro Alberto, the former "father" of the Brazilian nuclear program), was carried out jointly with Naval Group on the basis of the same Scorpene project and with the introduction of a number of technologies used on new French nuclear multipurpose submarines boats of the type Barracuda (type Suffren). However, this program again faced permanent delays - under the PROSUB program, according to a 2009 agreement, a Brazilian nuclear submarine was to be built at ICN in 2015 with delivery by 2025. The schedule revised in 2016 already provided for the start of detailing the SN-BR construction program in the second half of 2018, while the nominal completion date for the construction of a nuclear submarine is now 2029.
The technical design of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR was finally approved only in November 2020, and on November 24, 2021, the Brazilian Navy signed an agreement to begin construction on the ICN hull of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN 10 Alvaro Alberto. There are still many technical and financial problems in the Brazilian nuclear submarine program, and it is unclear whether Brazil will be able to actually implement it - at least within the designated time frame.
Structurally, the appearance of the Brazilian submarine now looks similar to the enlarged boats of the Scorpene type. The Brazilian nuclear submarine should have a single-hull structure, 100 m long and 9.8 m wide, and be equipped with one Brazilian-made nuclear reactor with a single-shaft turboelectric power plant with full electric propulsion and a propeller. The power of the main power plant is estimated at 64 thousand hp. The speed of full underwater travel is up to 25 knots, the working depth of immersion is up to 350 m. The crew is 100 people. The armament of the submarine should consist of six 533-mm torpedo tubes.
The ceremony of cutting the first steel during the construction of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR under the Submarino Convencionalmente Armado com Propulsão Nuclear (SCPN) program at the Brazilian special shipyard of underwater shipbuilding Itaguai Construçoes Navais (ICN), 04.10.2023 (c) www.naval.com.br
The experimental "qualification section" of the hull of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR under the Submarino Convencionalmente Armado com Propulsão Nuclear (SCPN) program. The first steel cutting for this section took place on 04.10.2023 at the Brazilian special shipyard of underwater shipbuilding Itaguai Construçoes Navais (ICN) (c) ICN
Images of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR under the Submarino Convencionalmente Armado com Propulsão Nuclear (SCPN) (c) program of the Brazilian Navy
Image of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine SN-BR under the Submarino Convencionalmente Armado com Propulsão Nuclear (SCPN) program and its comparison with diesel-electric submarines of the French project Scorpene (c) of the Brazilian Navy (c) of the Brazilian Navy being built for the Brazilian Navy at the same ICN shipyard under the French-Brazilian PROSUB program