Mountain glaciers are disappearing and reshaping river flows and local communities

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The world's fastest submarine. The Soviet Union's nuclear submarine K
two two two set a speed record more than fifty
years ago, and it has never been surpassed since. Designed
and built over fifty years ago, the Soviet K two
two two submarine still holds the record as the fastest
submarine ever produced, reaching a speed of eighty two point

(00:21):
eight kilometers per hour according to IFL Science. Initially named
K one sixty two, the K two twenty two was
developed under the directive of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Council of
Ministers in nineteen fifty eight as part of an effort
to create a new high speed submarine. Manufactured in the

(00:42):
port city of Severodvinsk in northern USSR during the nineteen sixties,
the submarine was part of Projects sixty sixty one and
was commissioned in nineteen sixty nine. Armed with nuclear weapons
empowered by nuclear energy, the submarine was just over one
hundred and six meters long and was one of the
first submarines to feature a titanium hull. However, its most

(01:04):
remarkable feature was its speed. During trials in nineteen sixty nine,
it surpassed expectations by reaching seventy seven point eight kilometers
per hour instead of the expected seventy point four kilometers
per hour. Its highest speed was achieved in a nineteen
seventy one test, where it hit eighty two point eight
kilometers per hour at full nuclear power, a record that

(01:27):
has remained unbeaten. The K two to two two posed
a potential threat to the US and other NATO allies
during the Cold War, challenging their technical capabilities. In comparison,
one of the fastest submarines the US ever developed, the
nuclear powered Sea Wolf attack submarine, only reached a speed
of sixty four kilometers per hour. However, maintaining the K

(01:49):
two to two s power was difficult. Its high speed
put a mense strain on its structure, and the system
was complex and expensive to operate. Inside the submarine's control room,
noise levels reached up to one hundred decibels, similar to
that of a busy nightclub. A critical event for the
project occurred in September nineteen eighty when an accident took

(02:10):
place during the maintenance of the submarine's nuclear reactor. Eventually,
the K two two two was decommissioned in nineteen eighty
eight and scrapped in twenty ten. Due to the technical
challenges faced by the K two two two, it remains
unlikely that any submarine will surpass its speed record in
the foreseeable future.