PARAMETRIC EVALUATION OF ALTNERNATIVE NUCLEAR PROPULSION CORES USING CURVED FUEL PLATES
Conference
·
OSTI ID:1634779
- Idaho National Laboratory
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) holds the potential of reducing travel times for deep space missions (e.g. to Mars). Previous reactor core designs considered by the Rover/NERVA program relied on highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel contained within a hexagonal graphite matrix. An alternative layout is investigated in this paper. It consists of a circular assembly containing concentric curved plates of UN fuel. These fuel assemblies are placed within a beryllium block and reflector. Preliminary results indicate that many variations of this design are viable, with high power to mass ratio and outlet temperatures.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1634779
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-19-56987-Rev000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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