IDAHO KNOWS NUKES! Documentary on Idaho's role creating the Nuclear Navy airs this Sunday
- Idaho's INL was instrumental in creating the modern nuclear propulsion systems used in submarines and air craft carriers.
- Nuclear power allowed submarines to stay submerged indefinitely.
- IPTV is airing a documentary on Idaho's role in the nuclear navy at 6 p.m. this Sunday.
Idaho's National Lab (INL) near Idaho Falls may be hundreds of miles from the ocean, but was critical to creating the most dangerous thing to ever roam the seas.
If any state has a DNA connection to the Nuclear Navy, it's Idaho. The very first nuclear ship, the Nautilus, a nuclear submarine the propulsion system was designed and built in Idaho.
Idaho Public TV created a documentary exploring Idaho's key role in upgrading the most fearsome weapon on the high seas. Submarines were previously powered by diesel engines and had to surface to breathe.
Idaho's downsized nuclear plants changed all that.
"It really made it so we could get our submarines anywhere in the world and stay underwater forever," explains documentary producer Aaron Kunz with IPTV.
Learn all about it this Sunday, when the documentary airs on Idaho Public TV at 6 p.m.
