Gaseous fission reactor

A nuclear reactor gas (English Nuclear Reactor Core gas - NGCR ) is a nuclear reactor, in which the nuclear fuel is in gaseous form. Such a reactor has not yet gone beyond the experimental stage. Possible applications are powerful rocket engines for interplanetary flights and nuclear power plants with significantly improved efficiency in power generation.

Rocket motor

Wherein the nuclear reactor gas for spacecraft is the vaporized gas and compressed to uranium fuel is heated by the nuclear fission. The plasma of the gas core is prevented by magnetic confinement fusion reactor similar to the flowing apart, while the reaction chamber is protected. This gas core is now surrounded with the liquid hydrogen, the power absorbed by the heating energy is used when flowing out of a nozzle for thrust. With such an arrangement, which can be operated for reasons of radioactivity released only in outer space, a very high specific impulse can be achieved.

In October 2009, the Russian space agency Roskosmos has announced record a program begun in 1954, development of such a drive again. The engine uses highly enriched uranium in a plasma gas phase at a pressure of about 1000 atm (100 MPa) and temperatures up to 70,000 degrees Kelvin. Hydrogen as a fuel to be used, supplemented by alkali metals such as lithium, in order to promote the transfer of energy from the radiation. The project plan should be developed by 2012, then take the development of nine years, with a cost of 17 billion rubles (580 million dollars) has been budgeted. The engine should produce the conditions for a manned Mars mission.

Power generation

A container on the outside of a coil is wound, is here filled with gaseous uranium hexafluoride, the uranium is enriched. The array is filled almost to the critical mass. By ( for example, by Petards ) generated pressure wave is the uranium hexafluoride compressed so much at one point that a chain reaction to take place. This gives rise to at this point a great heat, which leads to the expansion of uranium hexafluoride. Since this can not escape, it comes in other places compressions, where again a chain reaction to take place. The result is a migrating through the vessel plasma wave. This is surrounded by magnetic fields which induce a voltage in the coil wound around the container. The efficiency of this arrangement is approximately 20 percent.

Cooling of the reaction chamber with the uranium hexafluoride and coil these are flowed around by a coolant. With the heated coolant or may be a conventional thermal power with an efficiency of 35 %, similar to as in today's nuclear power plants, is carried out, that would be possible with this arrangement, a 55% efficiency.

Since uranium hexafluoride is chemically very reactive, to be expected with a strong corrosion of the components. To date, no reactor has been built according to this scheme.