Nuclear Power Sources: A Key Enabling Technology for Planetary Exploration

Summerer, Leopold; Stephenson, Keith

doi:10.1243/09544100jaero766

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…NEFRs generate electricity for the vehicular instruments and the electric propulsion system. The following NEFRs have operated in space: (i) the BUK and TOPAZ reactors of Russia and (ii) the SNAP-10A reactor of the United States [4]. Nuclear reactors for space exploration have some design criteria that are distinct from those of terrestrial nuclear reactors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Loss-of-Flow Accidents and Their Impact on Radiation Heat Transfer

Khatry

Aydoğan

2017

Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations

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Long-term high payload missions necessitate the need for nuclear space propulsion. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) investigated several reactor designs from 1959 to 1973 in order to develop the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA). Study of planned/unplanned transients on nuclear thermal rockets is important due to the need for long-term missions. In this work, a system model based on RELAP5 is developed to simulate loss-of-flow accidents on the Pewee I test reactor. This paper investigates the radiation heat transfer between the fuel elements and the structures around it. In addition, the impact on the core fuel element temperature and average core pressure was also investigated. The following expected results were achieved: (i) greater than normal fuel element temperatures, (ii) fuel element temperatures exceeding the uranium carbide melting point, and (iii) average core pressure less than normal. Results show that the radiation heat transfer rate between fuel elements and cold surfaces increases with decreasing flow rate through the reactor system. However, radiation heat transfer decreases when there is a complete LOFA. When there is a complete LOFA, the peripheral coolant channels of the fuel elements handle most of the radiation heat transfer. A safety system needs to be designed to counteract the decay heat resulting from a post-LOFA reactor scram.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Loss-of-Flow Accidents and Their Impact on Radiation Heat Transfer

Khatry

Aydoğan

2017

Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations

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“…Thermoelectric devices have been applied to numerous energy conversion applications, some of the most demanding being in Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) systems for deep space and planetary exploration missions [1][2][3]. To-date, these power systems use the heat generated from the nuclear decay of plutonium-238, which is then converted into electricity by lead telluride or silicon-germanium thermoelectric materials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To-date, these power systems use the heat generated from the nuclear decay of plutonium-238, which is then converted into electricity by lead telluride or silicon-germanium thermoelectric materials. Systems under development for potential future application in Europe would use americium-241 due to its lower cost [3]. Am-241 has approximately one quarter of the energy density of Pu-238 [3,4], which will lead to lower temperatures and heat flux through the thermoelectric elements; this drives the selection of bismuth telluride thermoelectric materials with high aspect-ratio (long) legs [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Systems under development for potential future application in Europe would use americium-241 due to its lower cost [3]. Am-241 has approximately one quarter of the energy density of Pu-238 [3,4], which will lead to lower temperatures and heat flux through the thermoelectric elements; this drives the selection of bismuth telluride thermoelectric materials with high aspect-ratio (long) legs [5]. A key advantage of bismuth telluride based materials is that proven module manufacturing approaches are available, which lowers technical development risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spark plasma sintered bismuth telluride-based thermoelectric materials incorporating dispersed boron carbide

Williams

Ambrosi

Chen

et al. 2015

Journal of Alloys and Compounds

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The mechanical properties of bismuth telluride based thermoelectric materials have received much less attention in the literature than their thermoelectric properties. Polycrystalline p-type Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 materials were produced from powder using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). The effects of nano-B 4 C addition on the thermoelectric performance, Vickers hardness and fracture toughness were measured. Addition of 0.2 vol% B 4 C was found to have little effect on zT but increased hardness by approximately 27% when compared to polycrystalline material without B 4 C. The K IC fracture toughness of these compositions was measured as 0.80 MPa m 1/2 by Single-Edge V-Notched Beam (SEVNB). The machinability of polycrystalline materials produced by SPS was significantly better than commercially available directionally solidified materials because the latter is limited by cleavage along the crystallographic plane parallel to the direction of solidification.

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“…Such testing is a powerful inhibitor to the nuclear rocket development, as the risks of nuclear contamination of the environment cannot be entirely avoided with current concepts. Alongside already further matured activities in the ¦eld of space nuclear power sources for generating on-board power, a low level investigation on nuclear propulsion has been running since long within ESA, and innovative concepts have already been proposed at an IAF conference in 1999 [1,2]. Following a slow maturation process, a new concept was de¦ned which was submitted to a concurrent design exercise in ESTEC in 2007.…”

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confidence: 99%

The nuclear thermal electric rocket: a proposed innovative propulsion concept for manned interplanetary missions

Dujarric

Santovincenzo

Summerer

2013

Progress in Propulsion Physics

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Conventional propulsion technology (chemical and electric) currently limits the possibilities for human space exploration to the neighborhood of the Earth. If farther destinations (such as Mars) are to be reached with humans on board, a more capable interplanetary transfer engine featuring high thrust, high speci¦c impulse is required. The source of energy which could in principle best meet these engine requirements is nuclear thermal. However, the nuclear thermal rocket technology is not yet ready for §ight application. The development of new materials which is necessary for the nuclear core will require further testing on ground of full-scale nuclear rocket engines. Such testing is a powerful inhibitor to the nuclear rocket development, as the risks of nuclear contamination of the environment cannot be entirely avoided with current concepts. Alongside already further matured activities in the ¦eld of space nuclear power sources for generating on-board power, a low level investigation on nuclear propulsion has been running since long within ESA, and innovative concepts have already been proposed at an IAF conference in 1999 [1,2]. Following a slow maturation process, a new concept was de¦ned which was submitted to a concurrent design exercise in ESTEC in 2007. Great care was taken in the selection of the design parameters to ensure that this quite innovative concept would in all respects likely be feasible with margins. However, a thorough feasibility demonstration will require a more detailed design including the selection of appropriate materials and the veri¦cation that these can withstand the expected mechanical, thermal, and chemical environment. So far, the prede¦nition work made clear that, based on conservative technology assumptions, a speci¦c impulse of 920 s could be obtained with a thrust of 110 kN. Despite the heavy engine dry mass, a preliminary mission analysis using conservative assumptions showed that the concept was reducing the , 2013 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Progress in Propulsion Physics4 (2013) 293-312 DOI: 10.1051/eucass/201304293 © Owned by the authors, published by EDP SciencesArticle available at http://www.eucass-proceedings.eu or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/eucass/201304293 PROGRESS IN PROPULSION PHYSICSrequired Initial Mass in Low Earth Orbit compared to conventional nuclear thermal rockets for a human mission to Mars. Of course, the realization of this concept still requires proper engineering and the dimensioning of quite unconventional machinery. A patent was ¦led on the concept. Because of the operating parameters of the nuclear core, which are very speci¦c to this type of concept, it seems possible to test on ground this kind of engine at full scale in close loop using a reasonable size test facility with safe and clean conditions. Such tests can be conducted within fully c...

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Nuclear Power Sources: A Key Enabling Technology for Planetary Exploration

Cited by 37 publications

References 27 publications

Modeling Loss-of-Flow Accidents and Their Impact on Radiation Heat Transfer

Modeling Loss-of-Flow Accidents and Their Impact on Radiation Heat Transfer

Spark plasma sintered bismuth telluride-based thermoelectric materials incorporating dispersed boron carbide

The nuclear thermal electric rocket: a proposed innovative propulsion concept for manned interplanetary missions

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