Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Heat pipe reactors for space power applications

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2514/6.1977-491· OSTI ID:7105568
A family of heat pipe reactors design concepts has been developed to provide heat to a variety of electrical conversion systems. Three power plants are described that span the power range 1-500 kW(e) and operate in the temperature range 1200 to 1700/sup 0/K. The reactors are fast, compact, heat-pipe cooled, high-temperature nuclear reactors fueled with fully enriched refractory fuels, UC-ZrC or UO/sub 2/. Each fuel element is cooled by an axially located molybdenum heat pipe containing either sodium or lithium vapor.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
7105568
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-77-296; CONF-770302-2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English