Safety evaluation of RTG launches aboard Titan IV launch vehicles
- Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space P.O. Box 8555 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101 (United States)
The analytical tool used to evaluate accidents aboard a Titan IV launch vehicle involving a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) is discussed. The Launch Accident Scenario Evaluation Program-Titan IV version (LASEP-T) uses a Monte Carlo approach to determine the response of an RTG to various threatening environments. The threatening environments arise from a complex interplay of probabilistic and deterministic processes, and are therefore parameterized by a set of random variables with probability distributions. The assessment of the RTG response to a given environment is based on both empirical data and theoretical modeling. Imbedding detailed, complex response models into the LASEP-T calculation was not practical. Simpler response models have been constructed to capture both the inherent variability due to the phenomenology of the accident scenario along with the uncertainty of predicting response behavior. The treatment of variability and uncertainty as it pertains to the launch accident evaluation of RTG response will be discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 21165716
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 387, Issue 1; Conference: STAIF-97: Space technology and applications international forum, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 26-30 Jan 1997; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.51965; (c) 1997 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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