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A Stainless-Steel, Uranium-Dioxide, Potassium-Heatpipe-Cooled Surface Reactor.
- Source :
-
AIP Conference Proceedings . 2006, Vol. 813 Issue 1, p289-297. 9p. 3 Diagrams, 2 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- One of the primary goals in designing a fission power system is to ensure that the system can be developed at a low cost and on an acceptable schedule without compromising reliability. The Heatpipe Power System (HPS) is one possible approach for producing near-term, low-cost, space fission power. The Heatpipe Operated Moon Exploration Reactor (HOMER-25) is a HPS designed to produce 25-kWe on the lunar surface for 5 full-power years. The HOMER-25 core is made up of 93% enriched UO2 fuel pins and stainless-steel (SS)/potassium (K) heatpipes in a SS monolith. The heatpipes transport heat generated in the core through the water shield to a potassium boiler, which drives six Stirling engines. The operating heatpipe temperature is 880 K and the peak fast fluence is 1.6e21 n/cm2, which is well within an established database for the selected materials. The HOMER-25 is designed to be buried in 1.5 m of lunar regolith during operation. By using technology and materials which do not require extensive technology development programs, the HOMER-25 could be developed at a relatively low cost. This paper describes the attributes, specifications, and performance of the HOMER-25 reactor system. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0094243X
- Volume :
- 813
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- AIP Conference Proceedings
- Publication Type :
- Conference
- Accession number :
- 19564532
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2169205