[AR] Re: MSR reactors.
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2019 13:03:28 -0400 (EDT)
On Fri, 12 Jul 2019, Loron, Peter wrote:
...Seems like the additional plumbing to carry the salt would be heavier
and more complex. Temperatures would probably be even more limited than
solid-core designs as you would need pumps for the salt.
An MSR nuclear rocket wouldn't really need plumbing or pumps, except
perhaps for startup and shutdown. The reason an orthodox MSR circulates
the salt is for cooling -- the salt is fuel and coolant combined -- but a
nuclear rocket is gas-cooled! All the salt has to do is sit there and
fission. But that means there's no real advantage to having it liquid.
There have been schemes for liquid-core nuclear rockets, but those were
meant to push operating temperatures up beyond the 2500-3000K possible
with solid-core systems. That is, not molten salts, but molten uranium,
with propellant bubbled through it! (Uranium is liquid from about 1400K
to about 4400K, so in principle you can handily beat the solid-core
systems on Isp.) There are some wee problems with startup and shutdown
and fuel containment, not to mention the materials issues of running at
4000K+ -- okay, the fuel can be liquid, but it has to be contained in
something solid...
Henry
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