The Mars Hopper is an alternative extraterrestrial vehicle for the collection of samples from the Martian surface. This thesis studied the engine of the Mars Hopper to assess the validity of the current planned launch cycle according to current parameters. To do this, the engine was simplified to an average...
Medical Isotopes are a necessity in modern medicine for cancer treatments and medical imaging. In order to ensure that the needs and demands are met for the medical procedures, facilities are put in place to produce these isotopes. There are over 25 different isotopes of interest being produced by more...
A limited scope Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) of a vented nuclear fuel system for a Generation IV Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Plant was performed. The goal of the study was to better understand the safety and licensing implications of vented fuel technology. A Level 1 PRA was performed to determine the...
Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) designs have received renewed interest due to their superior thermal efficiencies and a rehabilitated desire for space exploration. This has resulted in improved NTR fuel designs that have unique properties that require investigation and testing in order to be more safely designed and operated.
Oak Ridge...
A transient code (TFETC) for calculating the temperature
distribution throughout the radial and axial positions of a
thermionic fuel element (TFE) has been successfully developed.
It accommodates the variations of temperatures, thermal power,
electrical power, voltage, and current density throughout the
TFE as a function of time as well as...
A Fabric Composite Radiation Heat Transfer Study has been
conducted to determine the effective emissivities of specific
fabric composite materials. The weave of the fabric and the
high strength capability of the individual fiber in
combination with the thermal conductivity and chemical
stability of specific metallic liner, result in a...
The Run-Ahead Predictive Simulation Software (RAPSS) is an architecture designed for faster-than-real-time decision support for operators of complex networks. To enable further development of the RAPSS methodology, the necessary proof of principle is illustrated in two applications: decision support for shift technical advisors in nuclear power plant control rooms (RAPSS-STA),...
The ion implantation process is a very precise, controllable, and
reproducible method used to enhance material properties of finished
components such as ball bearings. Essentially, the target material is
bombarded by accelerated ions to form a thin alloyed layer in the
substrate. As the ions deposit their kinetic energy in...
Lattice bum-up calculations in thermal reactors are complicated by the necessity
for use of transport theory to represent fuel rods, control rods, and burnable absorbers,
by many time-dependent variables which must be considered in the analysis, and by
geometric complexity which introduces time-dependent, spatial-spectral variations.
Representation of lattice structure in...
The development of a novel high temperature space radiator is
described. A Rotating Bubble Membrane Radiator (RBMR) combines the
best features of heat pipes and droplet radiators while avoiding
their negative attributes. The RBMR offers light weight, self
deployment, ease of startup and its performance is less affected by
acceleration....
A rotating, flat plate condensation experiment has been developed to
investigate the heat of the Rotating Bubble Membrane Radiator (RBMR). The
RBMR is a proposed heat rejection system for space applications which uses
working fluid condensation on the inside surface of a rotating sphere to
reject heat to space. The...
Conventional stainless steel - water and ceramic fabric composite water
heat pipes have been built and tested. The tests have been conducted to compare
the performance characteristics between conventional and fabric composite heat
pipe radiators for space nuclear power heat rejection systems. The fabric
composite concept combines a strong ceramic...
The need for cheap reliable energy, while simultaneously avoiding uranium supply constraints makes uranium carbide (UC) fueled Gas Fast Reactors offer an attractive nuclear reactor design. In order to qualify the fuel, an enhanced understanding of the behavior of uranium carbide during operation is paramount. Due to a reduced re-solution...
Critical Heat Flux (CHF) is an important safety parameter for the design of nuclear reactors. The most commonly used predictive tool for determination of CHF is a look-up table developed using tube data with an average hydraulic test diameter of 8 mm. There exist in the world today nuclear reactors...
Miniature satellites called cubesats have been gaining increasing popularity in
both academic and private spaceflight ventures. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
has recently been accepting design proposals for a cubesat mission to Europa, where
solar and battery power would be inadequate power sources. In this thesis, a
radioisotope powered cubesat was...
The design of a fabric composite heat pipe has been completed. It is
composed of two end caps, between which a fluid containment liner composed of
metal foil and an outer structural layer composed of a ceramic fabric is stretched.
The interior of the heat pipe is layered with a...
A model has been developed to predict the long-term
oxidation rate of Zircaloy-4 for ex-reactor (autoclave) and
in-reactor (PWR) environments and operating conditions. A
computer program has been written to solve the oxygen
diffusion equation by employing a fully implicit finite
difference method for a one dimensional cylindrical
geometry. The...