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Emissivity Tuned Emitter for RTPV Power Sources

Description: Every mission launched by NASA to the outer planets has produced unexpected results. The Voyager I and II, Galileo, and Cassini missions produced images and collected scientific data that totally revolutionized our understanding of the solar system and the formation of the planetary systems. These missions were enabled by the use of nuclear power. Because of the distances from the Sun, electrical power was produced using the radioactive decay of a plutonium isotope. Radioisotopic Thermoelectric… more
Date: March 1, 2012
Creator: Stoots, Carl M.; O'Brien, Robert C. & Howe, Troy M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Current Development of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion technologies at the Center for Space Nuclear Research

Description: Nuclear power and propulsion has been considered for space applications since the 1950s. Between 1955 and 1972 the US built and tested over twenty nuclear reactors / rocket engines in the Rover/NERVA programs1. The Aerojet Corporation was the prime contractor for the NERVA program. Modern changes in environmental laws present challenges for the redevelopment of the nuclear rocket. Recent advances in fuel fabrication and testing options indicate that a nuclear rocket with a fuel composition that… more
Date: September 1, 2012
Creator: O'Brien, Robert C.; Cook, Steven K.; Jerred, Nathan D.; Howe, Steven D.; Samborsky, Ronald & Brasuell, Daniel
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Validation of FSP Reactor Design with Sensitivity Studies of Beryllium-Reflected Critical Assemblies

Description: The baseline design for space nuclear power is a fission surface power (FSP) system: sodium-potassium (NaK) cooled, fast spectrum reactor with highly-enriched-uranium (HEU)-O2 fuel, stainless steel (SS) cladding, and beryllium reflectors with B4C control drums. Previous studies were performed to evaluate modeling capabilities and quantify uncertainties and biases associated with analysis methods and nuclear data. Comparison of Zero Power Plutonium Reactor (ZPPR)-20 benchmark experiments with th… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Bess, John D. & Marshall, Margaret A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Benchmark Evaluation of the Medium-Power Reactor Experiment Program Critical Configurations

Description: A series of small, compact critical assembly (SCCA) experiments were performed in 1962-1965 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) for the Medium-Power Reactor Experiment (MPRE) program. The MPRE was a stainless-steel clad, highly enriched uranium (HEU)-O2 fuelled, BeO reflected reactor design to provide electrical power to space vehicles. Cooling and heat transfer were to be achieved by boiling potassium in the reactor core and passing vapor directly through… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Marshall, Margaret A. & Bess, John D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

CRITICAL CONFIGURATION AND PHYSICS MEASUREMENTS FOR GRAPHITE REFLECTED ASSEMBLIES OF U(93.15)O2 FUEL RODS (1.506-CM PITCH)

Description: A series of critical experiments were completed in 1962-1965 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Critical Experiments Facility in support of the Medium-Power Reactor Experiments (MPRE) program. In the late 1950’s efforts were made to study “power plants for the production of electrical power in space vehicles”. The MPRE program was a part of those efforts and studied the feasibility of a stainless steel system, boiling potassium 1 MW(t), or about 140 kW(e), reactor. The program was carried out i… more
Date: March 1, 2012
Creator: Marshall, Margaret A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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ENHANCED THERMAL VACUUM TEST CAPABILITY FOR RADIOISOTOPE POWER SYSTEMS AT THE IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY BETTER SIMULATES ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF SPACE

Description: The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is preparing to fuel and test the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), the next generation space power generator. The INL identified the thermal vacuum test chamber used to test past generators as inadequate. A second vacuum chamber was upgraded with a thermal shroud to process the unique needs and to test the full power capability of the new generator. The thermal vacuum test chamber is the first of its kind capable of testing a fueled power syst… more
Date: March 1, 2012
Creator: Giglio, J. C. & Jackson, A. A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Preconceptual Feasibility Study to Evaluate Alternative Means to Produce Plutonium-238

Description: There is currently no large-scale production of 238Pu in the United States. Feasibility studies were performed at the Idaho National Laboratory to assess the capability of developing alternative 238Pu production strategies. Initial investigations indicate potential capability to provision radioisotope-powered systems for future space exploration endeavors. For the short term production of 238Pu, sealed canisters of dilute 237Np solution in nitric acid could be irradiated in the Advanced Test Re… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Bess, John D. & Everson, Matthew S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

A Flow-Channel Analysis for the Mars Hopper

Description: The Mars Hopper is an exploratory vehicle designed to fly on Mars using carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere as a rocket propellant. The propellent gasses are thermally heated while traversing a radioisotope ther- mal rocket (RTR) engine’s core. This core is comprised of a radioisotope surrounded by a heat capacitive material interspersed with tubes for the propellant to travel through. These tubes, or flow channels, can be manu- factured in various cross-sectional shapes such as a specia… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Cooley, W. Spencer
Item Type: Refine your search to only Book
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Economical Production of Pu-238

Description: All space exploration missions traveling beyond Jupiter must use radioisotopic power sources for electrical power. The best isotope to power these sources is plutonium-238. The US supply of Pu-238 is almost exhausted and will be gone within the next decade. The Department of Energy has initiated a production program with a $10M allocation from NASA but the cost is estimated at over $100 M to get to production levels. The Center for Space Nuclear Research has conceived of a potentially better pr… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Howe, Steven D.; Crawford, Douglas; Navarro, Jorge & Ring, Terry
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Planning For Multiple NASA Missions With Use Of Enabling Radioisotope Power

Description: Since the early 1960’s the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have provided radioisotope power systems (RPS) to NASA as an enabling technology for deep space and various planetary missions. They provide reliable power in situations where solar and/or battery power sources are either untenable or would place an undue mass burden on the mission. In the modern era of the past twenty years there has been no time that multiple missions have been considered for launching from Ken… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Johnson, S.G.; Lively, K.L. & Dwight, C.C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

CRITICAL CONFIGURATION FOR BERYLLIUM REFLECTED ASSEMBLIES OF U(93.15)O2 FUEL RODS (1.506-CM PITCH AND 7-TUBE CLUSTERS)

Description: A series of critical experiments were completed in 1962-1965 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Critical Experiments Facility in support of the Medium-Power Reactor Experiments (MPRE) program. In the late 1950’s efforts were made to study “power plants for the production of electrical power in space vehicles”. The MPRE program was a part of those efforts and studied the feasibility of a stainless steel system, boiling potassium 1 MW(t), or about 140 kW(e), reactor. The program was carried out i… more
Date: May 1, 2012
Creator: Marshall, Margaret A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

CAPABILITY TO RECOVER PLUTONIUM-238 IN H-CANYON/HB-LINE

Description: Plutonium-238 is used in Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) to generate electrical power and in Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) to produce heat for electronics and environmental control for deep space missions. The domestic supply of Pu-238 consists of scrap material from previous mission production or material purchased from Russia. Currently, the United States has no significant production scale operational capability to produce and separate new Pu-238 from irradiated neptunium-23… more
Date: January 9, 2013
Creator: Fuller, K.; Smith, Robert H. Jr. & Goergen, Charles R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Small Fast Spectrum Reactor Designs Suitable for Direct Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Description: Advancement of U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program requires high performance propulsion systems to support a variety of robotic and crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit. Past studies, in particular those in support of both the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), have shown nuclear thermal propulsion systems provide superior performance for high mass high propulsive delta-V missions. The recent NASA… more
Date: July 1, 2012
Creator: Schnitzler, Bruce G. & Borowski, Stanley K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Thermoelectric Conversion of Waste Heat to Electricity in an IC Engine Powered Vehicle

Description: The thermoelectric generator shorting system provides the capability to monitor and short-out individual thermoelectric couples in the event of failure. This makes the series configured thermoelectric generator robust to individual thermoelectric couple failure. Open circuit detection of the thermoelectric couples and the associated short control is a key technique to ensure normal functionality of the TE generator under failure of individual TE couples. This report describes a five-year effort… more
Date: January 31, 2012
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Fabrication of Cerium Oxide and Uranium Oxide Microspheres for Space Nuclear Power Applications

Description: Cerium oxide and uranium oxide microspheres are being produced via an internal gelation sol-gel method to investigate alternative fabrication routes for space nuclear fuels. Depleted uranium and non-radioactive cerium are being utilized as surrogates for plutonium-238 (Pu-238) used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators and for enriched uranium required by nuclear thermal rockets. While current methods used to produce Pu-238 fuels at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) involve the generati… more
Date: February 1, 2013
Creator: Katalenich, Jeffrey A.; Hartman, Michael R. & O'Brien, Robert C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Ongoing Space Nuclear Systems Development in the United States

Description: Reliable, long-life power systems are required for ambitious space exploration missions. Nuclear power and propulsion options can enable a bold, new set of missions and introduce propulsion capabilities to achieve access to science destinations that are not possible with more conventional systems. Space nuclear power options can be divided into three main categories: radioisotope power for heating or low power applications; fission power systems for non-terrestrial surface application or for sp… more
Date: October 1, 2011
Creator: Bragg-Sitton, S.; Werner, J.; Johnson, S.; Houts, Michael G.; Palac, Donald T.; Mason, Lee S. et al.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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High Temperature Integrated Thermoelectric System and Materials

Description: The final goal of this project is to produce, by the end of Phase II, an all ceramic high temperature thermoelectric module. Such a module design integrates oxide ceramic n-type, oxide ceramic p-type materials as thermoelectric legs and oxide ceramic conductive material as metalizing connection between n-type and p-type legs. The benefits of this all ceramic module are that it can function at higher temperatures (> 700 C), it is mechanically and functionally more reliable and it can be scale… more
Date: June 6, 2011
Creator: Chu, Mike S. H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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CONTAINMENT VESSEL TEMPERATURE FOR PU-238 HEAT SOURCE CONTAINER UNDER AMBIENT, FREE CONVECTION AND LOW EMISSIVITY COOLING CONDITIONS

Description: The EP-61 primary containment vessel of the 5320 shipping package has been used for storage and transportation of Pu-238 plutonium oxide heat source material. For storage, the material in its convenience canister called EP-60 is placed in the EP-61 and sealed by two threaded caps with elastomer O-ring seals. When the package is shipped, the outer cap is seal welded to the body. While stored, the EP-61s are placed in a cooling water bath. In preparation for welding, several containers are remove… more
Date: February 14, 2011
Creator: Gupta, N. & Smith, A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Benchmarking of Graphite Reflected Critical Assemblies of UO2

Description: A series of experiments were carried out in 1963 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) for use in space reactor research programs. A core containing 93.2% enriched UO2 fuel rods was used in these experiments. The first part of the experimental series consisted of 253 tightly-packed fuel rods (1.27 cm triangular pitch) with graphite reflectors [1], the second part used 253 graphite-reflected fuel rods organized in a 1.506 cm triangular pitch [2], and the fina… more
Date: November 1, 2011
Creator: Marshall, Margaret A. & Bess, John D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Evaluation of HEU-Beryllium Benchmark Experiments to Improve Computational Analysis of Space Reactors

Description: An assessment was previously performed to evaluate modeling capabilities and quantify preliminary biases and uncertainties associated with the modeling methods and data utilized in designing a nuclear reactor such as a beryllium-reflected, highly-enriched-uranium (HEU)-O2 fission surface power (FSP) system for space nuclear power. The conclusion of the previous study was that current capabilities could preclude the necessity of a cold critical test of the FSP; however, additional testing would … more
Date: February 1, 2011
Creator: Bess, John D.; Bledsoe, Keith C. & Rearden, Bradley T.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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ADVANCED RADIOISOTOPE HEAT SOURCE AND PROPULSION SYSTEMS FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION

Description: The exploration of planetary surfaces and atmospheres may be enhanced by increasing the range and mobility of a science platform. Fundamentally, power production and availability of resources are limiting factors that must be considered for all science and exploration missions. A novel power and propulsion system is considered and discussed with reference to a long-range Mars surface exploration mission with in-situ resource utilization. Significance to applications such as sample return missio… more
Date: September 1, 2010
Creator: O'Brien, R. C.; Howe, S. D. & Werner, J. E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Development of a propulsion system and component test facility for advanced radioisotope powered Mars Hopper platforms

Description: Verification and validation of design and modeling activities for radioisotope powered Mars Hopper platforms undertaken at the Center for Space Nuclear Research is essential for proof of concept. Previous research at the center has driven the selection of advanced material combinations; some of which require specialized handling capabilities. The development of a closed and contained test facility to forward this research is discussed within this paper.
Date: February 1, 2011
Creator: O'Brien, Robert C.; Jerred, Nathan D. & Howe, Steven D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Article
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Reactor Testing and Qualification: Prioritized High-level Criticality Testing Needs

Description: Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) were tasked with reviewing possible criticality testing needs to support development of the fission surface power system reactor design. Reactor physics testing can provide significant information to aid in development of technologies associated with small, fast spectrum reactors that could be applied for non-terrestrial power systems, leading to eventual system qualification. Several studies have been conducted in recent years to assess the da… more
Date: September 1, 2011
Creator: Bragg-Sitton, S.; Bess, J.; Werner, J.; Harms, G. & Bailey, S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

A revolution in micropower : the catalytic nanodiode.

Description: Our ability to field useful, nano-enabled microsystems that capitalize on recent advances in sensor technology is severely limited by the energy density of available power sources. The catalytic nanodiode (reported by Somorjai's group at Berkeley in 2005) was potentially an alternative revolutionary source of micropower. Their first reports claimed that a sizable fraction of the chemical energy may be harvested via hot electrons (a 'chemicurrent') that are created by the catalytic chemical reac… more
Date: November 1, 2010
Creator: Cross, Karen Charlene; Heller, Edwin J.; Figiel, Jeffrey James; Coker, Eric Nicholas; Creighton, James Randall; Koleske, Daniel David et al.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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