Nuclear reactor system study for NASA/JPL. Final report

Reactor shielding and safety studies and heat pipe development work undertaken for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the period March 1, 1981 to October 30, 1981 are described. Monte Carlo calculations of gamma and neutron shield configurations show that substantial weight penalties are incurred if exposures at 25 m to neutrons and gammas must be limited to 10/sup 12/ nvt and 10/sup 6/ rad, instead of the 10/sup 13/ nvt and 10/sup 7/ rad values used earlier. For a 1.6 MW/sub t/ reactor, the required shield weight increases from 400 to 815 kg. Water immersion criticality calculations have been extended to study the effect of water in fuel void spaces as well as in the core heat pipes. These show that the insertion into the core of eight blades of B/sub 4/C with a mass totaling 2.5 kg will guarantee subcriticality. The design, fabrication procedure, and testing of a 4-m-long molybdenum/lithium heat pipe are described. It appears that an excess of oxygen in the wick prevented the attainment of expected performance capability.