Results of the KRUSTY Warm Critical Experiments

Journal Article · 03 June 2020 · Nuclear Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1727287 · OSTI ID:1648090

Poston, David I.  ^[1]; Gibson, Marc A. ^[2]; McClure, Patrick R. ^[1]; Sanchez, Rene G. ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)

The Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) was a prototypic nuclear-powered test of a 5-kW(thermal) Kilopower space reactor. This paper presents results from the KRUSTY warm critical experiments, which were completed prior to the final system test. The first set of criticals comprised cold or zero-power criticals; i.e., the core was not heated by fission power. These were followed by three warm criticals, where fission power heated the core to 200°C, 300°C, and 450°C, respectively. These criticals provided the data, confidence, and regulatory framework that were needed to proceed with the KRUSTY nuclear system test. The criticals also provided valuable data for the benchmarking of codes applicable to all nuclear systems. Finally, a comparison of KRUSTY results to pretest predictions is provided, and overall, the models matched the experimental results very closely.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: NASA; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• Grant/Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 1648090
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--19-32568
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: sup1 Vol. 206; ISSN 0029-5450
• Publisher: Taylor & FrancisCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English