Brazil: Here we go - nuclear-powered submarine

They really want to do it now! A series of four conventional submarines of the Riachuelo class (modified Scorpène class, 75 m, 1900 tonnes) is currently under construction at the state shipyard in Itaguai. Building on this design, the Alvaro Alberto da Motta e Silva attack submarine (SN-BR), three times the size, is now being built with a nuclear propulsion system. As a strategic industrial programme, the Brazilian construction project Prosub is to deliver a single prototype of the SN-BR, which already provides 1500 jobs and is expected to generate 24,000 direct jobs and 40,000 supply jobs in the future. South of the equator, where it is perfectly possible to produce highly enriched uranium, it is firmly assumed that this programme will bring the technological basis of the undisputed largest country in South America up to the industrial level of the USA, Russia and China within ten years. The first slab has now been cut in Itaguai, not far from Rio de Janeiro, marking the start of construction for the qualification section of the SN-BR. This section will then be used to carry out all the necessary certifications for the compliant construction of a nuclear-powered submarine - just like the big submarine builders do. This is a truly visionary project, as the Brazilian Navy, with around 70,000 soldiers and 23,000 marines, a coastline of more than 7,000 kilometres and internal waterways of 40,000 kilometres, has an immense area to monitor as part of its sovereign tasks. However, it only has a fleet of eight ocean-going but very old frigates and four new corvettes. On the other hand, much smaller countries also play in the nuclear league - so why not? And given that Brazil's intention to join the maritime nuclear states has been underway for much longer, the initiators of this development programme in 2008 were Nicolas Sarkozy and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, it is currently being steadfastly pursued.