US Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a new high-temperature testbed to advance research on nuclear thermal propulsion rockets. This comprises a high-temperature furnace that can be placed close to a reactor core to mimic the extreme heat and radiation conditions that nuclear fuels and materials will encounter in space.
Researchers, including students from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the US Military Academy West Point have used the furnace to test a new zirconium carbide fuel and material coating developed at ORNL using The Ohio State University Research Reactor. The samples were irradiated for two days under repeated temperature cycles that reached nearly 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit – twice the temperature of molten lava.
ORNL will conduct a post-irradiation analysis later this year to assess the performance of its zirconium carbide fuel coatings and will eventually scale up to test nuclear fuelled experiments. The test bed will be a key asset for future experiments.
“Testing materials at exceptionally high temperatures is a first and a crucial step toward helping NASA mature and qualify nuclear fuels for manned space exploration using nuclear thermal propulsion technology,” said ORNL researcher Brandon Wilson.
The irradiation testing at Ohio State University was supported by NASA and a US Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) Super Rapid Turnaround Experiment award which grants researchers access to a network of partner institutions, resources, and facilities for up to 12 months to perform studies on nuclear fuels and materials at no cost.
