NEUTRON GUN AND NUCLEAR-POWERED ENERGY GENERATOR

摘要

A breech-loading neutron gun (12A) providing neutrons to stimulate the release of energy from nuclear materials (18) in a containment vessel (14) in a regulated fashion includes a chamber (34A) among a plurality of chambers (34A-D) located in a breech (32) where one or more of the plurality of chambers are configured and arranged to load with a neutron source (58), and a mechanism for controllably moving the breech or the chamber relative to an access cavity (16A) of the containment vessel and exposing the nuclear materials to neutrons from the chamber when the chamber containing the neutron source aligns with the access cavity.