Assessment of a hot hydrogen nuclear propulsion fuel test facility

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5667959

Watanabe, Harry H. ^[1]; Howe, Steven D. ^[1]; Wantuck, Paul J. ^[1]

---

1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Subsequent to the announcement of the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), several studies and review groups have identified nuclear thermal propulsion as a high priority technology for development. To achieve the goals of SEI to place man on Mars, a nuclear rocket will operate at near 2700K and in a hydrogen environment at near 60 atmospheres. Under these conditions, the operational lifetime of the rocket will be limited by the corrosion rate at the hydrogen/fuel interface. Consequently, the Los Alamos National Laboratory has been evaluating requirements and design issues for a test facility. The facility will be able to directly heat fuel samples by electrical resistance, microwave deposition, or radio frequency induction heating to temperatures near 3000K. Hydrogen gas at variable pressure and temperatures will flow through the samples. The thermal gradients, power density, and operating times envisioned for nuclear rockets will be duplicated as close as reasonable. The post-sample flow stream will then be scrubbed and cooled before reprocessing. The baseline design and timetable for the facility will be discussed. 7 refs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5667959
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-91-4177; CONF-920643-1; ON: DE92004571
• Resource Relation: Conference: 9. world hydrogen energy conference, Paris (France), 22-25 Jun 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
REACTOR CORES
CORROSION
TESTING
COMBUSTION
CORROSION FATIGUE
HYDROGEN
MARS SPACE PROBES
PRESSURE EFFECTS
ROCKETS
ROVER REACTORS
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
SPACE VEHICLES
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FATIGUE
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MOBILE REACTORS
NONMETALS
OXIDATION
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION REACTORS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
VEHICLES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
210600* - Power Reactors
Auxiliary
Mobile Package
& Transportable