Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

By Grant Roche, Madelyn Maidak, Boyue

Zhang, and Arnav Goyal
Brief Outline: Boyue - Overview/ Background

Who’s Doing What? Grant - Operating in Space

Arnav - Launching it
Maddie - Modern Context
Overview/Background What is the motivation?

What makes it important enough to justify resources

How did it start

Overview of developments made.

Why NTP?
1. High impulse

2. High thrust to weight ratio

3. Shorter transit time

4. Vehicle reusability

5. Component commonality

Credit due: Glenn Research Center

How it started?
1. Firstly developed in the 1960s for the Apollo
Project

2. Originally planned to be used for the third stage

of Saturn V

3. Expected to be used for future

manned/unmanned missions to Jupiter and other
planets

Credit due: U.S. National Archives S-IVB-Wikipedia

What developments
have been made?
1. The reactor was designed and assembled

2. Prototype of the propulsion system tested

3. Hydrogen pump added

1
4. A new facility build to simulate vacuum 2
environment for further testing

5. Not chosen eventually due to its

requirements of highly enriched uranium

3
4
Credit due: U.S. National Archives
Technical Content -
Operating in Space ● One design proposed for NTP is the “solid core
reactor design”
● Solid core refers to the state of the fuel, where solid
uranium is used in fission
● Heat is transferred from the reactor on-board to a
gaseous Hydrogen propellent, where then the
Hydrogen expands from heat through a nozzle to
provide thrust.
● Space is the ideal environment for the “solid core
reactor design” because there is no need to worry
about the irradiated exhaust.
● There are multiple propositions for the type of
reactor that would be used.

Pictures taken from NERVA project from Los Alamos Lab

Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application)
Other Propositions for An interesting proposed design is the “particle-bed reactor”

- The fuel would consist of spherical elements that would

Solid Core Reactors -
‘float’ in Hydrogen
To avoid the fuel being ejected, the engine would be spun
with NTP -
to pin the fuel to the wall.
This is thought to potentially increase the specific
impulse to about 1000 seconds from the 850 seconds
estimated by the lower end of the range of SCR’s.
- This reactor provides further flexibility, as it could
operate like other SCR’s in low orbit, but in deep space it
could switch to pulsing and conserve fuel for longer
travel.

This design was worked on from 1987-1991 by the Strategic

Defense Initiative Office, but it was shut down before testing
could be done.
Addressing a Previous - Once the specific impulse of the Hydrogen fuel is

Question: used up it can either be:

- Cooled with the minimum amount of Hydrogen that

How is it cooled? keeps the pumps in operation and transitioned to

powering the craft
- Shut down if the ship has an alternative power source.

- Other NTP designs utilize a ‘pulse’ method where

the reactor is turned on with a very high power level.

- This is utilized to a certain temperature threshold,

where the reactor is then turned off and allowed to
cool and the cycle repeats.

Credit Due : National Geographic

Relevant Equations Specific impulse is defined as follows :

Where F is equal to the thrust which is defined by : \

In these equations, m represents the mass flow rate, P equals

pressure, A equals area, and V represents velocity.

Specific impulse is the ratio of thrust produced to the mass flow

of the propellant. (m/s / m/s^2 = s)

A higher specific impulse means more engine efficiency, which

is crucial for longer missions like interplanetary expeditions as
well as giving margins for error that could save lives by aborting
a mission gone wrong.
Equations taken from here (NASA!)
Technical Content - ● Fast neutrons, Alpha and Beta
particles, and Gamma rays
Launching it

NPRE 441- Principles of

Radiation Protection

NPRE 455 - Interaction of

Radiation with Matter
In Modern Context Current Status/Research:

- Currently, the Department of Energy is testing,

developing, and figuring out the feasibility of an
NTP rocket that uses low-enriched uranium fuels.
- Idaho National Laboratory is testing fuel composites
to understand how they perform under the harsh
conditions needed for NTP.

Development complete?

- No, it is difficult to launch an NTP, as well as create

a rocket that can withstand the heat. The biggest
hurdle right now is finding the right materials that
can handle such extreme conditions.
In Modern Context Future Work:

- Nasa has partnered with DARPA, and they plan to

start the design process, as well as successfully
launch an NTR by 2027.

Merits of NTP:

- No need to refuel during a life-cycle, higher speeds,

faster travel time; overall much more efficient.

Disadvantages of NTP:

- Radiation emitting from the reactor, much heavier

engine, and the inability to launch using NTP.
 1. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems, Glenn Research Center, NASA,
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/research-and-engineering/nuclear-thermal-propulsion-systems/

Bibliography
2. Nuclear Propulsion in Space, U.S. National Archives,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDNX65d-FBY&t=1078s

3. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion(NTP), NASA Video,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=miy2mbs2zAQ&app=deskt op&ab_chann
el=NASAVideo

4. Initial Risk Assessment for a Single Stage to Orbit Nuclear Thermal Rocket
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029549315000862

5. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion : Game Changing Technology for Deep Space Exploration,
NASA,
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/tech-demo-missions-program/nuclear-thermal-propulsion
-game-changing-technology-for-deep-space-exploration/

6. Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion (SNPP), NASA,

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/calomino-nuclear-v5.pdf

7. 6 Things You Should Know About Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, Office of Nuclear Energy,

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/6-things-you-should-know-about-nuclear-thermal-propulsion

8. Specific Impulse, NASA,

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/specimp.html