A preliminary investigation of the Topaz II reactor as a lunar surface power supply

Conference · Sat Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:162492

Polansky, G F ^[1]; Houts, M G ^[2]

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1. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

Reactor power supplies offer many attractive characteristics for lunar surface applications. The Topaz II reactor resulted from an extensive development program in the former Soviet Union. Flight quality reactor units remain from this program and are currently under evaluation in the United States. This paper examines the potential for applying the Topaz II, originally developed to provide spacecraft power, as a lunar surface power supply.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 162492
• Report Number(s): SAND--95-2974C; CONF-9511158--1; ON: DE96003693
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
EVALUATION
EXPLORATION
MOON
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
POWER GENERATION
RADIATION DOSES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
SHIELDING
SOILS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION
TESTING
THERMIONIC FUEL ELEMENTS
TOPAZ REACTOR
URANIUM DIOXIDE