In another forum (thread25-99737), I have talked myself into a corner regarding nuclear electric propulsion of spacecraft. When it came to number-crunching time, it turns out my propulsion textbooks don't have any data regarding mass/power of the nuclear power plants they describe, not even enough data to work it out approximately. Harumph. I poked around at nuclear submarine numbers, but that research didn't yeild much, probably due to the fact that nobody wants to widely publicize such numbers about military vessels.
Nuclear RTG's used on probes like Cassini and Galileo don't scale up very well. They only generate a kilowatt, and we're looking for MW, here.
Does anybody have approximate numbers handy on power-to-weight ratios for a 1 MW power plant, assuming it could be optimized for weight, needing shielding only in one direction? I know a bit about heavy-water systems, and I think there are other variations used in nuclear subs, which leads me to wonder if different moderators exist that would be more weight-efficient, too. Since Xenon is used in Ion Electric thrusters, could the same Xenon be used as a moderator? (Now I'm really exposing my ignorance on the finer points of capturing neutrons).
Hope somebody's interested. Thanks in advance, for any suggestions.
Steven Fahey, CET
"Simplicate, and add more lightness" - Bill Stout
Nuclear RTG's used on probes like Cassini and Galileo don't scale up very well. They only generate a kilowatt, and we're looking for MW, here.
Does anybody have approximate numbers handy on power-to-weight ratios for a 1 MW power plant, assuming it could be optimized for weight, needing shielding only in one direction? I know a bit about heavy-water systems, and I think there are other variations used in nuclear subs, which leads me to wonder if different moderators exist that would be more weight-efficient, too. Since Xenon is used in Ion Electric thrusters, could the same Xenon be used as a moderator? (Now I'm really exposing my ignorance on the finer points of capturing neutrons).
Hope somebody's interested. Thanks in advance, for any suggestions.
Steven Fahey, CET
"Simplicate, and add more lightness" - Bill Stout