General-Purpose Heat Source Safety Verification Test program: Edge-on flyer plate tests
The radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) that will supply power for the Galileo and Ulysses space missions contains 18 General-Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules. The GPHS modules provide power by transmitting the heat of STYPu -decay to an array of thermoelectric elements. Each module contains four STYPuO2-fueled clads and generates 250 W(t). Because the possibility of a launch vehicle explosion always exists, and because such an explosion could generate a field of high-energy fragments, the fueled clads within each GPHS module must survive fragment impact. The edge-on flyer plate tests were included in the Safety Verification Test series to provide information on the module/clad response to the impact of high-energy plate fragments. The test results indicate that the edge-on impact of a 3.2-mm-thick, aluminum-alloy (2219-T87) plate traveling at 915 m/s causes the complete release of fuel from capsules contained within a bare GPHS module, and that the threshold velocity sufficient to cause the breach of a bare, simulant-fueled clad impacted by a 3.5-mm-thick, aluminum-alloy (5052-T0) plate is approximately 140 m/s.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 6432398
- Report Number(s):
- LA-10872-MS; ON: DE87006309
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
SPACE VEHICLES
EXPLOSIONS
THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS
MISSILE PROTECTION
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FRAGMENTATION
MIXED OXIDE FUELS
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM DIOXIDE
SAFETY
TESTING
THERMOELECTRIC CONVERSION
URANIUM DIOXIDE
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALLOYS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONVERSION
DATA
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ENERGY CONVERSION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FUELS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PLUTONIUM OXIDES
RADIOISOTOPES
SOLID FUELS
TRANSURANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM OXIDES
VEHICLES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
300300* - Thermoelectric Generators
300504 - Fuel Cells- Applications