SNAP-50 reactor development program Page: 4 of 7
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Pratt t lhitney Aircraft is conducting for the Atomic Energy Commission at the CiARINL
facility in Middletown, Connecticut a research and development program leading ultimately
to the operation of a high temperature, compact, liquid-metal-cooled reactor suitable
for 10,000 hour operation in space flight environment. Successful completion of this
program represents a large forward step in reactor, materials, and engineering tech-
nology. Such technology will eventually have a significant impact on many power
programs but will very probably not be ready for the civilian reactor program within
the next five years.
The first major objective of the SNAP-50 reactor development program at CANEL is the
engineering, design, development, construction, and operation of a very high temperature,
lithium-cooled reactor experiment (LCRE) in the spring of 1965. Work on this experiment
concept was initiated in May of 1961 prior to the establishment of the SNAP-50 program
in response to the Atomic Energy Commission requirement for the continuing development
of the broadly applicable high temperature reactor technology born under the AMP pro-
gram. The second objective is the design, development, and test of the prototype reactor
and primary liquid metal loop for a nuclear electric space powerplant of one megawatt
electrical output. The design of the reactor for the first experiment is based upon
a fuel element consisting of pins containing uranium dioxide, beryllium oxide ceramic
fuel in a columbium-zirconium alloy jacket. The 13-1/2 inch diameter core containing
1651 of these pins is cooled by lithium-7. The reactor pressure vessel structure and
primary loop are constructed of columbium-zirconium alloy. The reactor is reflected
* .
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SNAP-50 reactor development program, report, May 14, 1962; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc865302/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.