Radiation shield analysis for a manned Mars rover

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:7269125

Morley, N J; ElGenk, M S ^[1]

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1. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque (United States)

Radiation shielding for unmanned space missions has been extensively studied; however, designs of man-rated shields are minimal. Engle et al.'s analysis of a man-rated, multilayered shield composed of two and three cycles (a cycle consists of a tungsten and a lithium hydride layer) is the basis for the work reported in this paper. The authors present the results of a recent study of shield designs for a manned Mars rover powered by a 500-kW(thermal) nuclear reactor. A train-type rover vehicle was developed, which consists of four cars and is powered by an SP-100-type nuclear reactor heat source. The maximum permissible dose rate (MPD) from all sources is given by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements as 500 mSv/yr (50 rem/yr) A 3-yr Mars mission (2-yr round trip and 1-yr stay) will deliver a 1-Sv natural radiation dose without a solar particle event, 450 mSv/yr in flight, and an additional 100 mSv on the planet surface. An anomalously large solar particle event could increase the natural radiation dose for unshielded astronauts on the Martian surface to 200 mSv. This limits the MPD to crew members from the nuclear reactor to 300 mSv.

• OSTI ID: 7269125
• Report Number(s): CONF-911107-; CODEN: TANSA; TRN: 92-030896
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 63; Conference: 1991 Winter meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) session on fundamentals of fusion reactor thermal hydraulics, San Francisco, CA (United States), 10-15 Nov 1991; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
MARS SPACE PROBES
SHIELDING
SPACE POWER REACTORS
RADIATION PROTECTION
AIR
GAMMA RADIATION
LITHIUM HYDRIDES
MAN
MARS PLANET
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
PERSONNEL DOSIMETRY
RADIATION DOSES
SHIELDING MATERIALS
SHIELDS
SOILS
TUNGSTEN
WATER
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ANIMALS
DOSES
DOSIMETRY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
METALS
MOBILE REACTORS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANETS
POWER REACTORS
PRIMATES
RADIATIONS
REACTORS
SPACE VEHICLES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
VEHICLES
VERTEBRATES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210600 - Power Reactors
Auxiliary
Mobile Package
& Transportable
560101 - Biomedical Sciences
Applied Studies- Radiation Effects- Dosimetry & Monitoring- (1992-)