I'm moderately familiar with them, but most recently from the
nonproliferation risks side of things. I hadn't been thinking about space
propulsion, but that's a good thing to consider sometimes...
Considering it, just idly thought up idea of MHD pump fountaining liquid
fuel into a gas flow might avoid some of the issues that the other liquid
approaches suffered, where they were trying to flow gas up through the
centrifugally contained liquid fuel.
Not sure what downsides might be.
On Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 11:44 AM Anthony Cesaroni <anthony@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
“I have heard the argument that solid fueled gas cooled reactors have a
dangerous failure mode if the fuel melts and goes to a more critical
arrangement, resulting in a runaway meltdown”.
This is the reason for the integration of a spreader point in the bottom
of some reactor core designs. If the core fuel melts, it flows outward from
the center forming a flat, non-critical geometry. This feature was used in
the Fermi sodium cooled reactor. Someone got the idea of cladding the point
in zirconium sheeting for additional protection but neglected to document
it in the final prints. A sheet broke away and clogged a flow channel
causing a partial core meltdown. It took a year to find it and fish it out.
Windscale was air cooled. It was plagued with many design and operating
problems that could have been prevented in the US hadn’t slammed the door
in Britain’s face regarding nuclear technology exchange after the war. Its
fuel tubes were horizontal. When it caught fire, anything that melted went
out the back into the spent fuel pool. The burning uranium and graphite was
a challenge to extinguish and resulted in a lost reactor. As with many
reactor accidents, it was preventable.
Anthony J. Cesaroni
President/CEO
Cesaroni Technology/Cesaroni Aerospace
http://www.cesaronitech.com/
(941) 360-3100 x101 Sarasota
(905) 887-2370 x222 Toronto
*From:* arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On
Behalf Of *Valtteri Maja
*Sent:* Friday, July 12, 2019 12:37 PM
*To:* arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [AR] Re: MSR reactors.
The MSR was designed by Alvin Weinberg & co for the aircraft reactor
program. I assume high power density, fast control and high temperature
were needed.
Kirk Sorensen, the current main proponent of thorium MSR:s used to work
for NASA earlier.
I have heard the argument that solid fueled gas cooled reactors have a
dangerous failure mode if the fuel melts and goes to a more critical
arrangement, resulting in a runaway meltdown.
pe 12. heinäk. 2019 klo 19.02 Loron, Peter <peterl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
kirjoitti:
IIRC, the past work on solid-core nuclear thermal rockets had reactors
with core temperatures up to 3000K. Offhand, I’m not sure how an MSR would
improve on that. 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.
-Pete
*From: *<arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Anthony Cesaroni <
anthony@xxxxxxxxxxx>
*Reply-To: *<arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Date: *Friday, July 12, 2019 at 8:43 AM
*To: *<arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject: *[AR] MSR reactors.
Is anyone on the list familiar with thorium and mixed fueled, molten salt
reactors? The designs are not mainstream but there are several examples and
configurations in operation or in development. There are a number of MSR
design possibilities that use various fueling and control approaches.
Operational temperatures cited range between 700~1000 C depending on the
design. Apparently higher temperatures are possible but have not been
tested. Has the MSR design ever been considered for use with hydrogen as a
propulsion system? The AHTR/FHR design at ORNL also suggests that it could
be used in thermochemical hydrogen manufacturing.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/molten-salt-reactors.aspx
Anthony J. Cesaroni
President/CEO
Cesaroni Technology/Cesaroni Aerospace
http://www.cesaronitech.com/
(941) 360-3100 x101 Sarasota
(905) 887-2370 x222 Toronto
