Thermal-Mechanical Studies for Gas-Cooled Space Reactor Designs
- Nuclear Systems Design, Decision Applications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
Los Alamos National Laboratory has been involved in the development of reactor concepts to be used as a power source for nuclear electric propulsion and/or for surface power sources. As part of this effort, a high fidelity thermal-mechanical analysis method has been developed for rapid performance assessments of these designs. This method has been used to study several concept alternatives, including both annular and multi-hole monolithic block designs. This paper presents the analysis method developed and results of analyses performed for a gas-cooled reactor. Key results are 1) the annular block design is lower mass than the multi-hole block design, 2) fuel temperatures are effectively controlled by adjusting the number of fuel pins in the core, 3) large thermal-hydraulic performance enhancements are produced by increasing coolant pressure and/or helium mole fraction, and 4) manufacturing and assembly parameters have relatively small effects on thermal-hydraulic performance and care should be taken to balance mechanical design complexity and reliability issues with thermal-hydraulic performance.
- OSTI ID:
- 20798018
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 813, Issue 1; Conference: 10. conference on thermophysics applications in microgravity; 23. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion; 4. conference on human/robotic technology and the national vision for space exploration; 4. symposium on space colonization; 3. symposium on new frontiers and future concepts, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 12-16 Feb 2006; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2169258; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
COOLANTS
DESIGN
EVALUATION
FISSION
FUEL PINS
GAS COOLED REACTORS
HELIUM
MANUFACTURING
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERFORMANCE
POWER GENERATION
PROPULSION
SPACE
SPACE VEHICLES
SURFACES
THERMAL HYDRAULICS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems