Pulsed nuclear thermal rocket

A pulsed nuclear thermal rocket is a type of nuclear

thermal rocket (NTR) concept developed at the
Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain, and
presented at the 2016 AIAA/SAE/ASEE Propulsion
Conference for thrust and specific impulse (Isp )
amplification in a conventional nuclear thermal
rocket.[1]

The pulsed nuclear thermal rocket is a bimodal rocket

able to work in a stationary (at constant nominal power
as in a conventional NTR), and as well as a pulsed
mode as a TRIGA-like reactor, making possible the
production of high power and an intensive neutron flux
in short time intervals. In contrast to nuclear reactors
where velocities of the coolant are no larger than a few
meters per second and thus, typical residence time is on
seconds, however, in rockets chambers with subsonic
velocities of the propellant around hundreds of meters
per second, residence time are around to  :
and then a long power pulse translates into an
important gain in energy in comparison with the
stationary mode. The gained energy by pulsing the
nuclear core can be used for thrust amplification by A sequence for a stationary-pulsed-stationary
increasing the propellant mass flow, or using the
maneuver for a pulsed thermal nuclear rocket.
intensive neutron flux to produce a very high specific
During the stationary mode (working at constant
impulse amplification – even higher than the fission- nominal power), the fuel temperature is always
fragment rocket, wherein the pulsed rocket the final constant (solid black line), and the propellant is
propellant temperature is only limited by the radiative coming cold (blue dotted lines) heated in the
cooling after the pulsation. chamber and exhausted in the nozzle (red dotted
line). When amplification in thrust or specific
Statement of the concept impulse is required, the nuclear core is "switched
on" to a pulsed mode. In this mode, the fuel is
continuously quenched and instantaneously healed
A rough calculation for the energy gain by using a
by the pulses. Once the requirements for high
pulsed thermal nuclear rocket in comparison with the
thrust and specific impulse are not required, the
conventional stationary mode is as follows. The energy
nuclear core is "switched on" to the initial
stored into the fuel after a pulsation is the sensible heat stationary mode.
stored because the fuel temperature increase. This
energy may be written as

where:

is the sensible heat stored after pulsation,

is the fuel heat capacity,
 is the fuel mass,
is the temperature increase between pulsations.

On the other hand, the energy generated in the stationary mode, i.e., when the nuclear core operates at
nominal constant power is given by

where:

is the linear power of the fuel (power per length of fuel),

is the length of the fuel,
is the residence time of the propellant in the chamber.

Also, for the case of cylindrical geometries for the nuclear fuel we have

and the linear power given by [2]

Where:

is the radius of the cylindrical fuel,

the fuel density,
the fuel thermal conductivity,
is the fuel temperature at the center line,
is the surface or cladding temperature.

Therefore, the energy ratio between the pulsed mode and the stationary mode, yields

Where the term inside the bracket, is the quenching rate.

Typical average values of the parameters for common nuclear fuels as MOX fuel or uranium dioxide are:[3]
heat capacities, thermal conductivity and densities around ,
and , respectively., with radius close to , and the temperature drop
between the center line and the cladding on or less (which result in linear power on
. With these values the gain in energy is approximately given by:
where is given in . Because the residence time of the propellant in the chamber is on to

considering subsonic velocities of the propellant of hundreds of meters per second and meter
chambers, then, with temperatures differences on or quenching rates on

energy amplification by pulsing the core could be thousands times larger than the stationary mode. More
rigorous calculations considering the transient heat transfer theory shows energy gains around hundreds or
thousands times, i.e., .

Quenching rates on are typical in the technology for production of amorphous metal,

where extremely rapid cooling in the order of are required.

Direct thrust amplification

The most direct way to harness the amplified energy by pulsing the nuclear core is by increasing the thrust
via increasing the propellant mass flow.

Increasing the thrust in the stationary mode -where power is fixed by thermodynamic constraints, is only
possible by sacrificing exhaust velocity. In fact, the power is given by

where is the power, is the thrust and the exhaust velocity. On the other hand, thrust is given by

where is the propellant mass flow. Thus, if it is desired to increase the thrust, say, n-times in the

stationary mode, it will be necessary to increase -times the propellant mass flow, and decreasing -times
the exhaust velocity. However, if the nuclear core is pulsed, thrust may be amplified -times by amplifying
the power -times and the propellant mass flow -times and keeping constant the exhaust velocity.

Isp amplification
The attainment of high exhaust velocity or specific impulse (Isp ) is the first concern. The most general
expression for the Isp is given by [4]

being a constant, and the temperature of the propellant before expansion. However, the temperature of
the propellant is related directly with the energy as , where is the Boltzmann constant. Thus,

being a constant.
In a conventional stationary NTR, the energy for
heating the propellant is almost from the fission
fragments which encompass almost 95% of the total
energy, and the faction of energy from prompt neutrons
is only around 5%, and therefore, in comparison, is
almost negligible. However, if the nuclear core is
pulsed it is able to produce times more energy than
the stationary mode, and then the fraction of prompt
neutrons or could be equal or larger than the total
energy in the stationary mode. Because fast neutrons
created in fission events have very high neutron
temperature (2 MeV or 20,000 km/s on average), they
are capable of exchanging very large amounts of
kinetic energy. Neutrons also exchange kinetic energy
much more readily with nucleons of similar mass, so
low molar mass propellant can absorb most of it while
the heavy atoms in fuel are mostly unaffected. This
allows temperatures to be obtained in the propellant
that are higher than in the fuel, potentially by orders of
magnitude, enabling Isp far beyond what a standard
nuclear thermal rocket is capable of.

In summary, if the pulse generates times more

energy than the stationary mode, the Isp amplification Pulsed nuclear thermal rocket unit cell concept for
Isp amplification. In this cell, hydrogen-propellant is
is given by
heated by the continuous intense neutronic pulses
in the propellant channels. At the same time, the
unwanted energy from the fission fragments is
removed by a solitary cooling channel with lithium
Where: or other liquid metal.

is the amplified specific impulse,

the specific impulse in the stationary mode,
the fraction of prompt neutrons,
the energy amplification by pulsing the nuclear core.

With values of between to and prompt neutron fractions around ,[5] ,[6] the
hypothetical amplification attainable makes the concept specially interesting for interplanetary
spaceflight.

Advantages of the design

There are several advantages relative to conventional stationary NTR designs. Because the neutron energy
is transported as kinetic energy from the fuel into the propellant, then a propellant hotter than the fuel is
possible, and therefore the is not limited to the maximum temperature permissible by the fuel, i.e., its
melting temperature.
The other nuclear rocket concept which allows a propellant hotter than the fuel is the fission fragment
rocket. Because it directly uses the fission fragments as a propellant, it can also achieve a very high specific
impulse.

Other considerations
For amplification, only the energy from prompt neutrons, and some prompt gamma energy, is used for
this purpose. The rest of the energy, i.e., the almost from fission fragments is unwanted energy and
must be continuously evacuated by a heat removal auxiliary system using a suitable coolant.[1] Liquid
metals, and particularly lithium, can provide the fast quenching rates required. One aspect to be considered
is the large amount of energy which must be evacuated as residual heat (almost 95% of the total energy).
This implies a large dedicated heat transfer surface.[7]

As regards to the mechanism for pulsing the core, the pulsed mode can be produced using a variety of
configurations depending on the desired frequency of the pulsations. For instance, the use of standard
control rods in a single or banked configuration with a motor driving mechanism or the use of standard
pneumatically operated pulsing mechanisms are suitable for generating up to 10 pulses per minute.[8] For
the production of pulses at rates up to 50 pulsations per second, the use of rotating wheels introducing
alternately neutron poison and fuel or neutron poison and non-neutron poison can be considered. However,
for pulsations ranking the thousands of pulses per second (kHz), optical choppers or modern wheels
employing magnetic bearings allow to revolve at 10 kHz.[8] If even faster pulsations are desired it would be
necessary to make use of a new type of pulsing mechanism that does not involve mechanical motion, for
example, lasers (based on the 3He polarization) as early proposed by Bowman,[9] or proton and neutron
beams. Frequencies on the order of 1 kHz to 10 kHz are likely choices.

See also
Fission fragment rocket

References
1. Arias, Francisco. J (2016). "On the Use of a Pulsed Nuclear Thermal Rocket for
Interplanetary Travel". 52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference Salt Lake City,
UT, Propulsion and Energy, (AIAA 2016–4685). doi:10.2514/6.2016-4685 (https://doi.org/10.
2514%2F6.2016-4685). ISBN 978-1-62410-406-0.
2. Waltar, Alan. E; Reynolds, Albert. B (1981). Fast Breeder Reactors. Pergamon Press.
ISBN 0-08-025983-9.
3. Popov, S.G; Carbajo, J. J.; et al. (1996). Thermophysical Properties of MOX and UO2 Fuels
Including the Effects of Irradiation. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ORNL/TM-2000/351.
4. Sutton, G.P; Biblarz, O. (2010). Rocket Propulsion Elements. eight edition (https://archive.or
g/details/Rocket_Propulsion_Elements_8th_Edition_by_Oscar_Biblarz_George_P._Sutton).
John Wiley and Sons.Inc. ISBN 978-0470080245.
5. Duderstadt, James J.; Hamilton, Louis J. (1976). Nuclear Reactor Analysis. Wiley.
ISBN 0471223638.
6. Glasstone, Samuel.; Sesonkse, Alexander (1994). Nuclear Reactor Engineering. Chapman
and Hall. ISBN 0412985217.
7. Arias, Francisco. J; Parks, G. T. (2017). "Heat Removal System for Shutdown in Nuclear
Thermal Rockets and Advanced Concepts". Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. 54 (4): 967–
 972. doi:10.2514/1.A33663 (https://doi.org/10.2514%2F1.A33663). hdl:2117/102046 (https://
hdl.handle.net/2117%2F102046).
8. William. L Whittemore (23–25 May 1995). "A continuously Pulsed Triga Reactor: An Intense
Source for Neutron Scattering Experiments" (http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollecti
onStore/_Public/36/023/36023830.pdf) (PDF). 4th meeting of the International Group on
Research Reactors, Gatlinburg, TN, USA. Ref: XAD4168.
9. Bowman, C. D (1998). "Prospects for Reactor Reactivity Control Using Lasers". Transactions
of American Nuclear Society.

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