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NASA's Kilopower nuclear reactor with Stirling converters (not an RTG) has passed key tests:
The Kilopower team conducted the experiment in four phases. The first two phases, conducted without power, confirmed that each component of the system behaved as expected. During the third phase, the team increased power to heat the core incrementally before moving on to the final phase. The experiment culminated with a 28-hour, full-power test that simulated a mission, including reactor startup, ramp to full power, steady operation and shutdown.
Throughout the experiment, the team simulated power reduction, failed engines and failed heat pipes, showing that the system could continue to operate and successfully handle multiple failures.
"We put the system through its paces," said Gibson. "We understand the reactor very well, and this test proved that the system works the way we designed it to work. No matter what environment we expose it to, the reactor performs very well."
The Kilopower project is developing mission concepts and performing additional risk reduction activities to prepare for a possible future flight demonstration. The project will remain a part of the STMD's Game Changing Development program with the goal of transitioning to the Technology Demonstration Mission program in Fiscal Year 2020.
The full system will generate 10 kW of power, but the prototype tested from November to March was designed to produce just 1 kW. The solid uranium-235 core is safe to handle.
The Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) prototype exceeded almost all performance metrics.
Multiple units could power missions on the Moon, Mars, or other destinations:
"Kilopower's compact size and robustness allows us to deliver multiple units on a single lander to the surface that provides tens of kilowatts of power," NASA Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in January.
Also at Beyond Nerva. 3m8s video.
Previously: NASA's Kilopower Project Testing a Nuclear Stirling Engine
Initial Tests of NASA's Kilopower Nuclear System Successful
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 03 2018, @07:11PM (1 child)
In theory, any subcritical mass of fissile material is "safe to handle" so long as you have the necessary radiation protection. It's when you get too much fissile material together in one place that nuclear hellfire breaks loose...look up the Demon Core on wiki for an instructive example (*shudder*).
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday May 03 2018, @09:46PM
Ah, so "safe to handle" when covered in a lead suit and you don't stay near it for more than a short period of time... yeah, totally safe.
Side stories:
In 1988 I met a man whose father worked at Savannah River during the Cold War doing Hot laundry. Dad always wore his dosimeter, followed all the rules, never had an overexposure or accident (at least not that anyone talked about), and the facility took real good care of his wife when he passed away at the ripe old age of 43.
In 2006 I interviewed for a job at an isotope facility, they kept a hot pile behind a maze and of course always meticulously followed all the safety procedures. The position was open because the 52 year old director of engineering had died recently, of cancer.
In 2007 I knew a graduate student who did his Masters' thesis on dose measuring devices, mostly in Linac radiotherapy machines ("safe" when off, like an X-ray), and a little around cobalt sources. Not only was he highly trained in all the safety procedures, he was developing methods to better measure dose and improve the safety and therapeutic dose measurements. Died in his early 20s of a rare form of blood cancer, no history of cancer in his family.
Myself, I have done extensive MRI safety work in and around the bore while scanning is active, I also sat for a couple hours of MRI scanning of myself to help gather reference datasets for our work. All in all, I prefer, and trust, non-ionizing radiation much more than the glow-in-the-dark variety.
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