The only thing we know for certain is there will be jealous people posting "news" articles claiming there are "cracks" on the deck of the Type 004 carrier and China "copied" the technology.
00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter AETHER
- Start date
antiterror13
Brigadier
I will be surprised if it is the case
Yes, that would surely be a radical departure from PLAN conservatism. They built 002 with a ramp, they built 003 conventional, and now suddenly they're abandoning all caution and jumping into two clean sheet CVNs? There's "not having technical issues," and then there's "not wasting billions on a premature investment." I'm very skeptical this is anything more than overexcited imaginations. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
I agree.
There's some pretty wild claims floating on the internet.
Supposedly China is currently building 2 Thorium powered super carriers. The proponents of this theory have failed to explain what military advantages would thorium have over uranium in regard to CVN's. Furthermore we do not have a good understanding of how much would it cost to convert thorium 232 into uranium 233. Is it any cheaper than just enriching uranium?....probably Not.
Anyway, realistically speaking, the Type 004 is going to be powered by uranium PWR reactors.
The only thing that is left for speculation is what will the enrichment rate be:
Medium --- 20% enriched uranium or
High --- 90% enriched uranium
I am going to stick my neck out and make a wild guess and say 20% enrichment. Why? A 20% enriched naval reactor opens up the possibility of using a civilian grade naval reactor which can be mass produced, bringing the costs down. Cost effective Nuclear marine propulsion would be a game changer.....or I could be totally wrong.
seems 3cats and 3eles for 004 and built by Dalian
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This image of unknown origin was discussed extensively last year. There is nothing to guarantee that this image is a future type 004.