Assessment of Near-Term Fuel Screening and Qualification Needs for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems
Abstract
Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is an in-space propulsion technology capable of both high specific impulse (850–1000 s) and thrust (44–1112 kN), which can help reduce trip times for crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit. NTP technology has been demonstrated during historic programs. Over 20 ground test reactor experiments were performed, which demonstrated the prototypic reactor operations, during the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA)/Rover program (1955–1972). Although historical programs have shown that NTP is a viable in-space propulsion technology, developing NTP in modern programs is contingent on the development and qualification of ultrahigh-temperature nuclear fuel technologies that can withstand engine operating conditions. In historical NTP development programs such as NERVA/Rover, prototypic reactor/engine schemes were ground tested to assess the overall system feasibility and to qualify the reactor fuel forms for eventual flight systems. Although this approach is effective to verify fuel performance under prototypic conditions, relying solely on full-scale NTP reactor tests as the pathway for verifying or qualifying fuel is inefficient and cost prohibitive today. Additionally, modern nuclear licensing requirements state that before test reactor approval, reactor components and fuel elements should be qualified via non-nuclear (out-of-pile) and nuclear (in-pile) testing under representative operating conditions. Using this methodology,more »
- Authors:
-
[2];
- Analytic Mechanics Associates, Huntsville, AL (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1657981
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1656663
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; NNX15AQ35H
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nuclear Engineering and Design
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 367; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5493
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 42 ENGINEERING
Citation Formats
Palomares, Kelsa, Howard, Richard H., and Steiner, Tyler. Assessment of Near-Term Fuel Screening and Qualification Needs for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110765.
Palomares, Kelsa, Howard, Richard H., & Steiner, Tyler. Assessment of Near-Term Fuel Screening and Qualification Needs for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110765
Palomares, Kelsa, Howard, Richard H., and Steiner, Tyler. Sat .
"Assessment of Near-Term Fuel Screening and Qualification Needs for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110765. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1657981.
@article{osti_1657981,
title = {Assessment of Near-Term Fuel Screening and Qualification Needs for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems},
author = {Palomares, Kelsa and Howard, Richard H. and Steiner, Tyler},
abstractNote = {Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is an in-space propulsion technology capable of both high specific impulse (850–1000 s) and thrust (44–1112 kN), which can help reduce trip times for crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit. NTP technology has been demonstrated during historic programs. Over 20 ground test reactor experiments were performed, which demonstrated the prototypic reactor operations, during the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA)/Rover program (1955–1972). Although historical programs have shown that NTP is a viable in-space propulsion technology, developing NTP in modern programs is contingent on the development and qualification of ultrahigh-temperature nuclear fuel technologies that can withstand engine operating conditions. In historical NTP development programs such as NERVA/Rover, prototypic reactor/engine schemes were ground tested to assess the overall system feasibility and to qualify the reactor fuel forms for eventual flight systems. Although this approach is effective to verify fuel performance under prototypic conditions, relying solely on full-scale NTP reactor tests as the pathway for verifying or qualifying fuel is inefficient and cost prohibitive today. Additionally, modern nuclear licensing requirements state that before test reactor approval, reactor components and fuel elements should be qualified via non-nuclear (out-of-pile) and nuclear (in-pile) testing under representative operating conditions. Using this methodology, fuel matures as production scale fabrication methods are established, and as produced fuel performance is demonstrated. Here, this paper provides an overview of historical approaches to NTP fuel performance maturation, including fuel screening and qualification needs, and provides insight for establishing an efficient testing paradigm that can be implemented to rapidly and affordably develop NTP fuel forms for eventual qualification.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110765},
journal = {Nuclear Engineering and Design},
number = 1,
volume = 367,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Square lattice honeycomb tri-carbide fuels for 50 to 250 KN variable thrust NTP design
conference, January 2001
- Anghaie, Samim
- Space technology and applications international forum - 2001, AIP Conference Proceedings
Space fission reactor structural materials: Choices past, present, and future
journal, April 2007
- Busby, J. T.; Leonard, K. J.
- JOM, Vol. 59, Issue 4
Technology readiness levels for advanced nuclear fuels and materials development
journal, March 2017
- Carmack, W. J.; Braase, L. A.; Wigeland, R. A.
- Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 313
How Safe Is Safe Enough? Radiation Risk for a Human Mission to Mars
journal, October 2013
- Cucinotta, Francis A.; Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; Chappell, Lori J.
- PLoS ONE, Vol. 8, Issue 10
Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator (NTREES)
conference, January 2008
- Emrich, William J.; El-Genk, Mohamed S.
- 008, AIP Conference Proceedings
The NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Project
conference, July 2015
- Houts, Michael G.; Mitchell, Doyce P.; Kim, Tony
- 51st AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference
Design and out-of-pile testing of a novel irradiation experiment vehicle to support qualification of nuclear thermal propulsion components
journal, May 2020
- Howard, Richard H.; Ruggles, Arthur E.
- Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 361
Processing of pseudo-ternary carbide fuels for high temperature space nuclear reactors
conference, January 1999
- Knight, Travis; Anghaie, Samim
- Space technology and applications international forum -1999, AIP Conference Proceedings
High heat flux simulation experiments with improved electron beam diagnostics
journal, December 2000
- Linke, J.; Bolt, H.; Duwe, R.
- Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 283-287
Preliminary study of impact of fuel options on performance of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) concepts
conference, January 2002
- Ludewig, H.; Todosow, M.; Montanez, P.
- SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM- STAIF 2002, AIP Conference Proceedings
Performance of (U,Zr)C-graphite (composite) and of (U,Zr)C (carbide) fuel elements in the Nuclear Furnace 1 test reactor
report, September 1973
- Lyon, L. L.
Separate effects irradiation testing of miniature fuel specimens
journal, December 2019
- Petrie, Christian M.; Burns, Joseph R.; Raftery, Alicia M.
- Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 526
Russian nuclear rocket engine design for mars exploration
journal, June 2007
- Vadim, Zakirov; Vladimir, Pavshook
- Tsinghua Science and Technology, Vol. 12, Issue 3