INVESTIGATION OF RE-ENTRY DESTRUCTION OF NUCLEAR AUXILIARY POWERPLANT
Abstract
Work was undertaken to determine how the re-entry of a nuclear reactor from orbit can be made inherently harmless by the re-entry environmentALONE AND WITHOUT THE USE OF FALLIBLE COMPONENTS. The problems involved in the re-entry destruction of a nuclear reactor (fuel-element exposure, meltdown of the fuel elements, dispersal of the molten residue, and combustion of the molten residue) were investigated by theoretical and experimental techniques. Results indicate that without modification, flight models of the August 1960 developmental reactor-vehicle systems considered will not be reduced to a harmless residue by the re-entry environment. However, the parametric and design studies are relatively general, and they may be useful to designers in developing this and other reactorvehicle systems for safe re-entry. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0268890