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Title: Summary of NR Program Prometheus Efforts

Abstract

The Naval Reactors Program led work on the development of a reactor plant system for the Prometheus space reactor program. The work centered on a 200 kWe electric reactor plant with a 15-20 year mission applicable to nuclear electric propulsion (NEP). After a review of all reactor and energy conversion alternatives, a direct gas Brayton reactor plant was selected for further development. The work performed subsequent to this selection included preliminary nuclear reactor and reactor plant design, development of instrumentation and control techniques, modeling reactor plant operational features, development and testing of core and plant material options, and development of an overall project plan. Prior to restructuring of the program, substantial progress had been made on defining reference plant operating conditions, defining reactor mechanical, thermal and nuclear performance, understanding the capabilities and uncertainties provided by material alternatives, and planning non-nuclear and nuclear system testing. The mission requirements for the envisioned NEP missions cannot be accommodated with existing reactor technologies. Therefore concurrent design, development and testing would be needed to deliver a functional reactor system. Fuel and material performance beyond the current state of the art is needed. There is very little national infrastructure available for fast reactor nuclear testing andmore » associated materials development and testing. Surface mission requirements may be different enough to warrant different reactor design approaches and development of a generic multi-purpose reactor requires substantial sacrifice in performance capability for each mission.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Space Energy Conversion, Lockheed Martin KAPL Inc. (United States)
  2. Space Reactor Engineering, Bechtel Bettis Inc. (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21054554
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Resource Relation:
Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings; Journal Volume: 880; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: International forum-STAIF 2007: 11. conference on thermophysics applications in microgravity; 24. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion; 5. conference on human/robotic technology and the vision for space exploration; 5. symposium on space colonization; 4. symposium on new frontiers and future concepts, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 11-15 Feb 2007; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2437490; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; CONTROL; DESIGN; ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES; ENERGY CONVERSION; EVALUATION; FAST REACTORS; FISSION; NUCLEAR FUELS; PERFORMANCE; PLANNING; PROPULSION; REACTOR OPERATION; REACTOR TECHNOLOGY; REVIEWS; SHIP PROPULSION REACTORS; TESTING; NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems

Citation Formats

Ashcroft, John, and Eshelman, Curtis. Summary of NR Program Prometheus Efforts. United States: N. p., 2007. Web. doi:10.1063/1.2437490.
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Ashcroft, John, & Eshelman, Curtis. Summary of NR Program Prometheus Efforts. United States. doi:10.1063/1.2437490.
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Ashcroft, John, and Eshelman, Curtis. Tue . "Summary of NR Program Prometheus Efforts". United States. doi:10.1063/1.2437490.
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@article{osti_21054554,
title = {Summary of NR Program Prometheus Efforts},
author = {Ashcroft, John and Eshelman, Curtis},
abstractNote = {The Naval Reactors Program led work on the development of a reactor plant system for the Prometheus space reactor program. The work centered on a 200 kWe electric reactor plant with a 15-20 year mission applicable to nuclear electric propulsion (NEP). After a review of all reactor and energy conversion alternatives, a direct gas Brayton reactor plant was selected for further development. The work performed subsequent to this selection included preliminary nuclear reactor and reactor plant design, development of instrumentation and control techniques, modeling reactor plant operational features, development and testing of core and plant material options, and development of an overall project plan. Prior to restructuring of the program, substantial progress had been made on defining reference plant operating conditions, defining reactor mechanical, thermal and nuclear performance, understanding the capabilities and uncertainties provided by material alternatives, and planning non-nuclear and nuclear system testing. The mission requirements for the envisioned NEP missions cannot be accommodated with existing reactor technologies. Therefore concurrent design, development and testing would be needed to deliver a functional reactor system. Fuel and material performance beyond the current state of the art is needed. There is very little national infrastructure available for fast reactor nuclear testing and associated materials development and testing. Surface mission requirements may be different enough to warrant different reactor design approaches and development of a generic multi-purpose reactor requires substantial sacrifice in performance capability for each mission.},
doi = {10.1063/1.2437490},
journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
number = 1,
volume = 880,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2007},
month = {Tue Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2007}
}
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Journal Article:
DOI:  10.1063/1.2437490
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  • ;
    The Naval Reactors Program led work on the development of a reactor plant system for the Prometheus space reactor program. The work centered on a 200 kWe electric reactor plant with a 15-20 year mission applicable to nuclear electric propulsion (NEP). After a review of all reactor and energy conversion alternatives, a direct gas Brayton reactor plant was selected for further development. The work performed subsequent to this selection included preliminary nuclear reactor and reactor plant design, development of instrumentation and control techniques, modeling reactor plant operational features, development and testing of core and plant material options, and development ofmore » an overall project plan. Prior to restructuring of the program, substantial progress had been made on defining reference plant operating conditions, defining reactor mechanical, thermal and nuclear performance, understanding the capabilities and uncertainties provided by material alternatives, and planning non-nuclear and nuclear system testing. The mission requirements for the envisioned NEP missions cannot be accommodated with existing reactor technologies. Therefore concurrent design, development and testing would be needed to deliver a functional reactor system. Fuel and material performance beyond the current state of the art is needed. There is very little national infrastructure available for fast reactor nuclear testing and associated materials development and testing. Surface mission requirements may be different enough to warrant different reactor design approaches and development of a generic multi-purpose reactor requires substantial sacrifice in performance capability for each mission.« less

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