Abstract
Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) demonstrated a reported technology readiness level of 5 during the work performed in the 1950s–1970s under the Rover program. This level of capability was achieved through the design, construction, and use of 22 experimental ground tests. These experiments served as testbeds for designs, materials, and instrumentation at prototypical NTP conditions. To continue the investigation into NTP system materials, components, and fuels, a modern experimental testbed has been designed and implemented. A steady-state, high-temperature, subscale, in-pile testbed has been developed to continue this investigation. The In-Pile Experiment Set Apparatus (INSET) has demonstrated that it can be used to test samples under two NTP prototypical environmental factors: temperature and neutron fluence. The demonstration using The Ohio State University Research Reactor is presented here. This demonstration required INSET to maintain a thermal environment below 1070 K for 15 min during a 5-h irradiation to achieve a neutron fluence around 1017 n/cm2.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 100-114 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Nuclear Technology |
| Volume | 208 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge NASA, who funded this work through subcontract number 4000169281. The authors would also like to acknowledge Thomas J. Harrison of ORNL for securing the funding for this work as well as for his relevant insight. The authors acknowledge the support of The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and the assistance of the reactor staff members Andrew Kauffman, Kevin Herminghuysen, and The Ohio State University doctoral candidate Neil Taylor for the irradiation services provided. We would like to acknowledge Neal Gaffin, a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for providing the material samples that were tested during the experiment. We thank N. Dianne Bull Ezell and C. Miller McSwain for their essential assistance, insight, and hard work in several facets of this work ranging from building INSET to preparing INSET at OSURR. Emily Hutchins acknowledges Brandon Wilson, who assisted her in checking each activation analysis for errors.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Kevin Herminghuysen | |
| Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Laboratory | |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 4000169281 |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Ohio State University | |
| University of Tennessee |
Keywords
- Nuclear thermal propulsion
- The Ohio State University Research Reactor
- subscale experiment