NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
A molten Salt Am242M Production Reactor for Space ApplicationsThe use of Am242m holds great promise for increasing the efficiency nuclear thermal rocket engines. Because Am242m has the highest fission cross section of any known isotope (1000's of barns), its extremely high reactivity may be used to directly heat a propellant gas with fission fragments. Since this isotope does not occur naturally, it must be bred in special production reactors designed for that purpose. The primary advantage to using molten salt reactors for breeding Am242m is that the reactors can be reprocessed continually yielding a constant rate of production of the isotope. Once built and initially fueled, the reactor will continually breed the additional fuel it needs to remain critical. The only feedstock required is a salt of U238. No enriched fuel is required during normal operation and all fissile material, except the Am242m, is maintained in a closed loop. For a reactor operating at 200 MW several kilograms of Am242m may be bred each year.
Document ID
20050206404
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Emrich, William
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Subject Category
Propellants And Fuels
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2005 ANS Annual Meeting
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: June 5, 2005
End Date: June 9, 2005
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available