Thermo-Physics Technical Note No. 60: Thermal Analysis of SNAP 10A Reactor Core During Atmospheric Reentry and Resulting Core Disintegration and Fuel Element Separation

摘要

A thermal analysis is carried out to determine the temperature distribution throughout a SNAP 10A reactor core, particularly in the vicinity of the grid plates, during atmospheric reentry. The transient temperatue distribution of the grid plate indicates when sufficient melting occurs so that fuel elements are free to be released and continue their descent individually.