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

Conference · Sun Dec 31 00:00:00 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 Lab. (SNL-NM), 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
• Resource Relation: Conference: International lunar exploration conference, San Diego, CA (United States), 12 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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