SEI nuclear technology findings by the Stafford Synthesis Group

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5980925

Buden, D ^[1]

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1. Idaho National Engineering Lab., Idaho Falls (United States)

Nuclear propulsion is key to reducing travel time to Mars, greatly reducing the mass in low Earth orbit, and enhancing schedule flexibility by increasing the Earth orbit departure launch window. Nuclear thermal rockets have twice to three times the performance of the best chemical rockets. This directly translates into reduced trip times and lower mass in low Earth orbit. Trip times of < 400 days in space are possible, a limitation if restricted to chemical propulsion. Psychological, physiological and radiological problems are significant issues for long mission times. The psychology of being cooped up so long in a minimum-sized capsule is cause for concern - much longer than considered healthy for nuclear submarine crews. The effects of long-term weightlessness are being debated. Short trip times eliminate the need for artificial gravity. The largest uncertainty is the effect of galactic radiation that will expose the crew to high levels of radiation for as much as 60 rem/yr.

• OSTI ID: 5980925
• Report Number(s): CONF-910603-; CODEN: TANSA
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 63; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Orlando, FL (United States), 2-6 Jun 1991; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
COSMIC RADIATION
HELIUM 3
IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY
MARS PLANET
MOON
PERFORMANCE
POWER DISTRIBUTION
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION PROTECTION
REACTOR MAINTENANCE
RELIABILITY
ROBOTS
ROCKETS
SERVICE LIFE
SOLAR FLARES
SPACE FLIGHT
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
DOSES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HELIUM ISOTOPES
IONIZING RADIATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAINTENANCE
MOBILE REACTORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
PLANETS
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION REACTORS
RADIATIONS
REACTORS
SATELLITES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
STABLE ISOTOPES
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
210600* - Power Reactors
Auxiliary
Mobile Package
&amp; Transportable