Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions

Mcclure, Patrick Ray; Poston, David Irvin; Gibson, Marc A; Mason, Lee S; Robinson, R Chris

doi:10.1080/00295450.2020.1722554

Title: Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions

Abstract

The Kilopower Project was initiated by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate/Game Changing Development Program in fiscal year 2015 to demonstrate subsystem-level technology readiness of small space fission power in a relevant environment (Technology Readiness Level 5) for space science and human exploration power needs. The Kilopower Project centerpiece is the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) test, which consists of the development and testing of a ground technology demonstrator of a 1-kW(electric)–class fission power system (FPS). The technologies to be developed and validated by KRUSTY are extensible to space FPSs from 1 to 10 kW(electric), which can enable modular surface FPSs for human exploration as well as higher-power future potential deep space science missions. The KRUSTY demonstration is cofunded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration. The KRUSTY demonstration in the National Critical Experiment Research Center’s Device Assembly Facility was completed in the first quarter of 2018.

Authors:

^[1]; Poston, David Irvin ^[1]; Gibson, Marc A ^[2]; Mason, Lee S ^[2]; Robinson, R Chris ^[3]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)
Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Publication Date:: Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020

Research Org.:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)

OSTI Identifier:: 1648084

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-19-28644
Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5450; TRN: US2202896

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Nuclear Technology

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 206; Journal Issue: sup1; Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5450

Publisher:: Taylor & Francis

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); Integral Experiments; Space Reactor; Experimental Testing; Missions

Citation Formats


                    Mcclure, Patrick Ray, Poston, David Irvin, Gibson, Marc A, Mason, Lee S, and Robinson, R Chris. Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions.  United States: N. p., 2020. 
Web.  doi:10.1080/00295450.2020.1722554.

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                    Mcclure, Patrick Ray, Poston, David Irvin, Gibson, Marc A, Mason, Lee S, & Robinson, R Chris. Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1722554

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                    Mcclure, Patrick Ray, Poston, David Irvin, Gibson, Marc A, Mason, Lee S, and Robinson, R Chris. Thu .  
"Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1722554.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1648084.

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@article{osti_1648084,

  title        = {Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions},

  author       = {Mcclure, Patrick Ray and Poston, David Irvin and Gibson, Marc A and Mason, Lee S and Robinson, R Chris},

  abstractNote = {The Kilopower Project was initiated by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate/Game Changing Development Program in fiscal year 2015 to demonstrate subsystem-level technology readiness of small space fission power in a relevant environment (Technology Readiness Level 5) for space science and human exploration power needs. The Kilopower Project centerpiece is the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) test, which consists of the development and testing of a ground technology demonstrator of a 1-kW(electric)–class fission power system (FPS). The technologies to be developed and validated by KRUSTY are extensible to space FPSs from 1 to 10 kW(electric), which can enable modular surface FPSs for human exploration as well as higher-power future potential deep space science missions. The KRUSTY demonstration is cofunded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration. The KRUSTY demonstration in the National Critical Experiment Research Center’s Device Assembly Facility was completed in the first quarter of 2018.},

  doi          = {10.1080/00295450.2020.1722554},

  journal      = {Nuclear Technology},

  number       = sup1,

  volume       = 206,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020},

  month        = {Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020}

}

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Fig. 1: Space nuclear power performance map. SMD is the NASA Science Mission Directorate; STMD is the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate.

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Works referenced in this record:

NASA's Kilopower reactor development and the path to higher power missions
conference, March 2017

Gibson, Marc A.; Oleson, Steven R.; Poston, David I.
2017 IEEE Aerospace Conference
DOI: 10.1109/AERO.2017.7943946

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Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

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Title: Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions

Abstract

Citation Formats

Figures / Tables:

NASA's Kilopower reactor development and the path to higher power missions conference, March 2017

NASA's Kilopower reactor development and the path to higher power missions
conference, March 2017