NASA Runs Successful First Tests Of Compact Nuclear Reactor For Mars Base

Those are the problems NASA’s Kilopower project hopes to solve with a compact nuclear fission reactor that uses a uranium-235 reactor core “roughly the size of a paper towel roll,” reports Reuters. The reactor would provide 10 kilowatts of power, “enough to run two average households… continuously for at least ten years,” according to a NASA release. Four units would be required to operate an outpost, it continues.

more…

A reactor the size of a paper towel.

Do the Greens know about this?

Tau.Neutrino said:

NASA Runs Successful First Tests Of Compact Nuclear Reactor For Mars Base

Those are the problems NASA’s Kilopower project hopes to solve with a compact nuclear fission reactor that uses a uranium-235 reactor core “roughly the size of a paper towel roll,” reports Reuters. The reactor would provide 10 kilowatts of power, “enough to run two average households… continuously for at least ten years,” according to a NASA release. Four units would be required to operate an outpost, it continues.

more…

A reactor the size of a paper towel.

Wow! Just U-235 as well, from the small size I would have guessed that it was like an RTG like this one running off Pu-238. But no.

The smallest complete reactor I know is the old basket-ball sized one from Oak Ridge. I like it.

captain_spalding said:

Do the Greens know about this?

Is the shielding thick enough to protect it from nuclear bombs dropped by the Russians?
Well, that question is about as sensible.

I do hope this reactor does not require manual maintenance, because the local radiation levels would be quite large.

The most compact complete nuclear reactors (as opposed to RTGs currently in service that I know about are those onboard nuclear subs and icebreakers. And they are very much bigger than this. The US government was looking into the use of nuclear reactors operating in the (what’s it called) epithermal high-temperature regime for making submarine nuclear reactors smaller.

This image is of Soviet nuclear reactor used in subs.

Here’s the installation diagram for Mars. Note the burial under a small shield, the stirling cycle engine, and the use of molten salt (NaK) coolant. FSP stands for fission surface power.

I thought at first that this was the same, but no, this is a collection of nuclear powered rocket engines. Skip to page 18 “Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Enhances or Enables Advanced
Space Missions, Including Human Mars Missions” because before that is just an introduction to reactors in genera.

Space reactor design overview

Instead,

This is the techical document for the new mini reactor

Some pretty photos and schematics of internal details in there.

mollwollfumble said:

I thought at first that this was the same, but no, this is a collection of nuclear powered rocket engines. Skip to page 18 “Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Enhances or Enables Advanced
Space Missions, Including Human Mars Missions” because before that is just an introduction to reactors in genera.

Space reactor design overview

Instead,

This is the techical document for the new mini reactor

Some pretty photos and schematics of internal details in there.

For the first link above – Nuclear Thermal Propulsion is essentially hydrogen monopropellant.

• The volume of a toy marble could contain the mass of uranium providing the NTP energy for an entire human Mars mission

• Standing next to an NTP engine before launch for one year is less radiation than a diagnostic x‐ray

mollwollfumble said:

I thought at first that this was the same, but no, this is a collection of nuclear powered rocket engines. Skip to page 18 “Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Enhances or Enables Advanced
Space Missions, Including Human Mars Missions” because before that is just an introduction to reactors in genera.

Space reactor design overview

Instead,

This is the techical document for the new mini reactor

Some pretty photos and schematics of internal details in there.

Wait, the two links are the same project after all – they use the same photo for illustrating “testing”. and both refer to kilopower project. The first link is from earlier work into nuclear thermal spaceship propulsion and the second is a very similar reactor for Mars on ground. The reflector is zirconium hydride. 8 heat pipes are used to run the engine.

From second link. Just look at how small an individual (1 of 8) nuclear reactor is in Figure 4.