Niocorp Developments Ltd (NB)

[NavyHusker]

Definitely true in that the shielding for US submarines provides for sufficient protection from exposure to ionizing radiation. The key to this is: minimize time exposed, maximize distance from radiation source, and maximize the shielding between a person and the source.

Some areas of the ship have some time limits associated with them, but all of these are so ultra-conservative that we can spend an entire career at sea and expect no significant health effects due to exposure to ionizing radiation. The crew is monitored and if your exposure levels are higher than average (or expected) then that person is re-trained not to linger in certain areas and/or moved to a different watch station with lower levels.

With respect to radiation poisoning, that is usually referred to as "Acute Radiation Syndrome" which can only happen when a very serious reactor accident happens. Even at full power (i.e. maximum radiation levels produced), the shielding design is such that it reduces the exposure levels sufficiently that radiation poisoning is not an issue, at most it would be long term (thing years) constant exposure but there are procedures in place to prevent this.

Is your question about reactor cladding asking about the reactor pressure vessel and associated components or are you asking about the shielding to protect from ionizing radiation? Cladding would generally be considered materials which are in place to minimize corrosion and not necessarily for structural integrity of the components (although if it aids in that, all the better). The containment system could refer to the primary coolant components (reactor vessel, associated piping, steam generators, pressurizer, pumps) or it could also refer to the entire reactor compartment which would contain material in the event of a leaks from the primary (In civilian reactors this would be referred to as the containment building which Chernobyl did not have. It had a building around the reactor, but it was not designed to contain any serious amounts of pressure whereas US civilian reactors are built with a containment building like Three Mile Island which are designed to contain pressure to prevent the release of radioactive materials outside the structure in the event of a reactor casualty).