Fission fragment rockets: A potential breakthrough

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6868318

Chapline, G F; Dickson, P W; Schnitzler, B G

A new reactor concept which has the potential of enabling extremely energetic and ambitious space propulsion missions is described. Fission fragments are directly utilized as the propellant by guiding them out of a very low density core using magnetic fields. The very high fission fragment exhaust velocities yield specific impulses of approximately a million seconds while maintaining respectable thrust levels. Specific impulses of this magnitude allow acceleration of significant payload masses to several percent of the velocity of light and enable a variety of interesting missions, e.g., payloads to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, in about a hundred years for very rapid solar system transport. The parameters reported in this paper are based on a very preliminary analysis. Considerable trade-off studies will be required to find the optimum system. We hope the optimum system proves to be as attractive as our preliminary analysis indicates, although we must admit that our limited effort is insufficient to guarantee any specific level of performance.

• Research Organization: EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-76ID01570; W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6868318
• Report Number(s): EGG-M-88285; CONF-880911-18; ON: DE88016953
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
220800* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Propulsion Reactors
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320201 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Transportation-- Air & Aerospace
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM 242
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBIDES
CARBON
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON FIBERS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FIBERS
FISSILE MATERIALS
FISSION FRAGMENTS
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MATERIALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MOBILE REACTORS
MODERATORS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FRAGMENTS
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION REACTORS
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
ROCKETS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
SPACE VEHICLES
URANIUM 239
URANIUM CARBIDES
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
VEHICLES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES