System modeling and reactor design studies of the Advanced Thermionic Initiative space nuclear reactor
- Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering Radiation Center
In-core thermionic space reactor design concepts that operate at a nominal power output range of 20 to 50 kW(electric) are described. Details of the neutronic, thermionic, thermal hydraulics, and shielding performance are presented. Because of the strong absorption of thermal neutrons by natural tungsten and the large amount of natural tungsten within the reactor core, two designs are considered. An overall system design code has been developed at Oregon State University to model advanced in-core thermionic energy conversion-based nuclear reactor systems for space applications. The results show that the driverless single-cell Advanced Thermionic Initiative (ATI) configuration, which does not have driver fuel rods, proved to be more efficient than the driven core, which has driver rods. The results also show that the inclusion of the true axial and radial power distribution decrease the overall conversion efficiency. The flattening of the radial power distribution by three different methods would lead to a higher efficiency. The results show that only one TFE works at the optimum emitter temperature; all other TFEs are off the optimum performance and result in a 40% decrease of the efficiency of the overall system. The true axial profile is significantly different as there is a considerable amount of neutron leakage out of the top and bottom of the reactor. The analysis reveals that the axial power profile actually has a chopped cosine shape. For this axial profile, the reactor core overall efficiency for the driverless ATI reactor version is found to be 5.84% with a total electrical power of 21.92 kW(electric). By considering the true axial power profile instead of the uniform power profile, each TFE loses {approximately}80 W(electric).
- OSTI ID:
- 276533
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 115, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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