USE OF MOLYBDENUM CERMET TO DECREASE MASS AND INCREASE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF NUCLEAR THERMAL ROCKETS

摘要

The use of molybdenum cermet fuel in the core inlet region of a NTR is proposed. The benefits and drawbacks of the application of this concept (also called Mo augmentation) are examined in detail. Realized performance gains from application in several representative LEU-NTR core designs are compared. The addition of the second fuel region shows positive performance benefits.