SCHOTT North America

06-16-2008, SCHOTT North America, Inc.

Large-Scale Feedthroughs from SCHOTT Electronic Packaging are a Key Safety Element on the Fifth Royal Navy Astute-Class Submarine

Maintenance-Free Electronic Reactor Controls Endure for the Decades-Long Life of Both the Boat and Its Power Plant

(Paris)- SCHOTT’s Electronic Packaging business announced today at the Eurosatory fair that it will supply large-scale feedthroughs to the Royal Navy’s fifth Astute-class nuclear submarine. The announcement was made at the Eurosatory Defense Exposition. SCHOTT Electronic Packaging will provide the protected electronic links between the ship’s control room and its nuclear reactor to the prime contractor, BAE Systems Submarine Solutions.

Power and control/instrumentation feedthroughs enable a ship’s crew to operate a nuclear vessel’s reactor from outside the containment area. They pass through bulkheads, and are sealed to protect against radiation leakage, to link the control panels with the reactor.

“Control of the power plant on the ship depends on the durability of the feedthroughs,” said Malcolm Bardsley, SCHOTT Electronic Packaging UK Sales Manager. “The safety of the crew depends on the both the quality and durability of the seals. Feedthroughs for shipboard nuclear reactors and other kinds of devices in hazardous areas have been a core competence for SCHOTT for many years.”

The steel tubes through the bulkhead carrying the high current or control/instrumentation signals are sealed at each end with a hermetic glass seal created at high temperature: the two seals giving added protection . The seals are designed to maintain electrical connectivity in extreme conditions, resisting high temperatures and pressures, hostile atmospheres, radiation and flames.

Each feedthrough includes many pins, keeping the number of bulkhead penetrations to a minimum by maximizing the connections to various reactor controls. The associated connectors are also protected to ensure electrical connectivity even in the same extreme conditions.

All large-scale feedthroughs on the Astute-class submarine are “fit and forget”and required to remain functional and hermetic for the service life of the ship, expected to be in excess of 25 years, with no need for maintenance or replacement. Indeed, considering that many warships stay in service well beyond their planned lifetimes, the extended life expectancy of the SCHOTT large-scale feedthroughs gives the Royal Navy an ample margin of safety.

“SCHOTT has been a leader in electronic packaging, with special expertise in nuclear controls, for decades, but our defence expertise also includes customized glass-to-metal as well as ceramics-to-metal sealing packages like the hybrid packages used in the Eurofighter’s defensive systems” said Dr. Oliver Fritz, Technical Manager Large-scale Feedthroughs. “SCHOTT is pleased to be a member of the SC21 initiative, dedicated to ensuring that the British Ministry of Defence obtains the best technologies at the best cost.”