Study of power density and thermal stress limitations of Rover reactor fuel elements

Abstract

Th<i6.i<lafluinMrt-««irttons"€onf» j^elati ae. J»i •ttwH win. 'oppHcatigr /^^-in fin--TiM'TinrrmTiiinninTir ii n nni HH HI.JJJI its trans- LEGAL NOTICEThis report was prepared as an account of Government sponsored work. Neither the United States, nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission: A. Makes any warranty or representation, expressed or Implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or B. Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report.As used in the above, "person acting on behalf of the Commission" includes any employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor prepares, disseminates, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission, or his employment with such contractor.All LA,.. MS reports are informal documents, usually prepared for a special purpose and primarily prepared for use within the Laboratory rather than for general distribution. This report has not been edited, reviewed, or verified for accuracy. All LA,.. MS reports express the views of the authors as of the time they were written and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory or the final opinion of the authors on the subject.

A feasibility study on low enriched uranium fuel for nuclear thermal rockets – II: Rocket and reactor performance

“…and a specially designed research reactor (NF-1) to verify and characterize the fuel's material properties and behavior in the NTR environment. As a result, a rich history of data regarding the peak power densities for the fuel is also available, indicating that the carbide composite fuels at the time were able to operate at power densities in excess of 6000 MW/ m 3 (Rowley et al, 1965). It is worthwhile to note, however, that it was believed that the achievable power densities were actually much higher, and could be reach with continued improvement in the manufacturing of the fuel elements (Taub, 1973).…”