Fission fragment rockets: A potential breakthrough

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6868318

Chapline, G F; Dickson, P W; Schnitzler, B G

A new reactor concept which has the potential of enabling extremely energetic and ambitious space propulsion missions is described. Fission fragments are directly utilized as the propellant by guiding them out of a very low density core using magnetic fields. The very high fission fragment exhaust velocities yield specific impulses of approximately a million seconds while maintaining respectable thrust levels. Specific impulses of this magnitude allow acceleration of significant payload masses to several percent of the velocity of light and enable a variety of interesting missions, e.g., payloads to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, in about a hundred years for very rapid solar system transport. The parameters reported in this paper are based on a very preliminary analysis. Considerable trade-off studies will be required to find the optimum system. We hope the optimum system proves to be as attractive as our preliminary analysis indicates, although we must admit that our limited effort is insufficient to guarantee any specific level of performance.

• Research Organization: EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-76ID01570; W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6868318
• Report Number(s): EGG-M-88285; CONF-880911-18; ON: DE88016953
• Resource Relation: Conference: International reactor physics conference, Jackson Hole, WY, USA, 18 Sep 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
FISSION FRAGMENTS
SPACE VEHICLES
AMERICIUM 242
CARBON
CARBON FIBERS
FISSILE MATERIALS
FUEL ELEMENTS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MODERATORS
PLUTONIUM 239
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
ROCKETS
URANIUM 239
URANIUM CARBIDES
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FIBERS
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MOBILE REACTORS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FRAGMENTS
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION REACTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
VEHICLES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
220800* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Propulsion Reactors
320201 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Transportation- Air & Aerospace