NASA tests 10kW nuclear reactor for space missions - Sensationalist Headlines

NASA has teamed with the US Department of Energy to develop a new kind of reactor to be used for space exploration missions. NASA's Kilopower project works to build the kind of technology that could be used for an affordable fission nuclear power system so astronauts can have longer trips to planets. Kilopower is a small, lightweight fission power system that can deliver 10 kilowatts of electrical power. That's enough to power several average households continuously for at least 10 years. The prototype system uses a solid, cast uranium-235 reactor core, roughly around the size of a paper towel roll. Sodium heat pipes transfer reactor heat to the high-efficiency Stirling engines, which then convert the heat to electricity. NASA successfully tests a new nuclear reactor for space use https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/demonstration-proves-nuclear-fission-system-can-provide-space-exploration-power Good to see some progress in the area is being made. Maybe we can see some NERV engines next.

Space missions is one of the few things i have left, very good.

For reference, a nuclear powerplant that's used to power the grid usually outputs over 3,000,000 KW. So in comparison it's pretty tiny! If they're able to use a reactor to power an electric propulsion system that'd be pretty cool. Looking forwards to seeing what happens.

Whooooaaa that's tinyyy. Very useful

can't wait to have my nuclear powered backup generator

Reactors in American aircraft carriers put out around 70x the theoretical reactor in the OP, so yeah quite tiny. Gotta be light enough to get it into space efficiently.

Nimitz class carriers have two reactors putting out near 100MW (electrical) each. That's not 70x more powerful, it's 10,000 times more powerful.

On the other hand, this design is 100 times more powerful than the tiny 110W reactor that's on the Curiosity rover. You can do a lot with a steady 10kW supply.

its more of a RTG than reactor though, still quite a technical feat, casting uranium into the desired core shape is probably a novel idea

RTGs are not reactors. Nuclear reactions don't take place inside them, material just decays.

How would you even shield the crew from it though? Surely you're still going to have shit loads of gamma and x-rays going into the crew section unless you build the compartment of lead, in which case good luck getting it off the ground.

The core is the size of a coke can, a shadow shield only needs to be slightly wider than that. But that's irrelevant because it's designed for use on outposts, not in flight.

I imagine this also paves the way for deep space exploration using probes propelled by electric propulsion systems.

It's a shielded reactor, which is how you normally shield people from it. They're not sitting in the reaction chamber; unless you know people that can fit inside a paper towel roll. The more dangerous rays are coming from outside the craft (read: space) to begin with.

Too bad this kind of technology couldn't translate to residential use.

i just imagined a craigslist post in the future for a salvage title consumer nuclear reactor, "runs good, had a small meltdown but it was professional fixed, tags expired, as is."

functionally different from an rtg but in the general design its the same, this isn't generating anywhere near what a nuclear reactor its size should generate from active use. the army had reactors this size that were in the hundred or single megawatt range. according to their presentations, its safe to leave it running even with heat pipe failure, its pretty much a sphere of u235 with heat pipes sticking out of it, passively stable.

I'd imagine that with some extra shielding (The article mentions a Beryllium reflector, but that only shields against neutrons, not betas & gammas). The radiator could be replaced or complemented with a cold water mains. Free water heating and complementary power to say an apartment block. My only concern would be disposal options, but this design uses Stirling generators, one would extract alot more power towards the end of the reactor's life compared to say an turbine based system.

Just imagine popping one of these into an electric car. Never have to refuel/recharge for over a decade...

Stop, I can only dream so much. Worst case scenario, how much damage could such a small device do should it completely malfunction or be tampered with?

it uh gets dropped on the ground completely exposing the u235 core

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goiânia_accident

dude... you could fit that shit on a plane and still have enough capacity for all the shielding!

Incidents like this make sure that nuclear reactors won't be available for home, car or personal usage. It would only be a matter of time before someone cracked the casing on their home unit and made their very own man portable dirty bomb.

I'd be personally OK with this being limited to municipal power, such as in Fallout 4. It's not really talked about, but apparently every medium size town in Massachusetts had a municipal nuclear reactor. It bypasses the dumbshit aspects of an uneducated society that would cut it open with a torch in curiosity, but also saves money with long distance transmission costs and such. Still, I think the Polywell fusion reactor is a better design for municipal nuclear energy, if it works that is. It should work in that it's a refinement of the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, which does achieve fusion, but is incapable of achieving the 500% output ratio needed to be power generating, as the wire electrode cages just don't last long enough at those energy levels. But some physicists have looked at it and think that the geometry of the magnetic fields are too leaky.