Potential Improvements to the Nuclear Safety and Launch Approval
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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20190001430 2019-04-04T13:49:59+00:00Z NASA/TM2019-220256 Potential Improvements to the Nuclear Safety and Launch Approval Process for Nuclear Reactors Utilized for Space Power and Propulsion Applications A Report to the Nuclear Power & Propulsion Technical Discipline Team Allen Camp Consultant, Albuquerque, New Mexico Andy Klein Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon Patrick McClure Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico Pete McCallum NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Susan Voss Global Nuclear Network Analysis, LLC, Taos, New Mexico February 2019 NASA STI Program . in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. advancement of aeronautics and space science. 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NASA/TM2019-220256 Potential Improvements to the Nuclear Safety and Launch Approval Process for Nuclear Reactors Utilized for Space Power and Propulsion Applications A Report to the Nuclear Power & Propulsion Technical Discipline Team Allen Camp Consultant, Albuquerque, New Mexico Andy Klein Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon Patrick McClure Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico Pete McCallum NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Susan Voss Global Nuclear Network Analysis, LLC, Taos, New Mexico National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia 23681-2199 February 2019 Acknowledgments This study was chartered by NASA’s Nuclear Power & Propulsion Technical Discipline Team (TDT) led by Lee Mason and Mike Houts. The Nuclear Power & Propulsion TDT governance resides under the NASA Office of Chief Engineer with oversight by the NASA Engineering Safety Center (NESC) Power Technical Fellow (Chris Iannello) and Propulsion Technical Fellow (Tom Brown). The study team would like to thank them along with the other members of the TDT for their guidance and feedback during this effort. The use of trademarks or names of manufacturers in the report is for accurate reporting and does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, of such products or manufacturers by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Available from: NASA STI Program / Mail Stop 148 NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA 23681-2199 Fax: 757-864-6500 Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Scope ................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.0 A Brief History of Safety for Space Reactors .............................................................................. 6 2.1 Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) Program .................................................... 8 2.2 Rover/NERVA Thermal Nuclear Rocket Program ............................................................. 9 2.3 Space Power 100 kWe (SP-100) ....................................................................................... 10 2.4 Topaz II ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.5 Prometheus........................................................................................................................ 11 2.6 Historical Efforts to Prevent Inadvertent Criticality ......................................................... 12 2.7 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 13 2.8 Impacts to Current Programs ............................................................................................ 13 3.0 Current Launch Safety Process .................................................................................................. 14 3.1 Launch Process Overview................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Considerations for Fission Reactors ................................................................................. 16 4.0 Assessment of Areas for Improvement ...................................................................................... 17 4.1 Duplication........................................................................................................................ 17 4.2 Complexity........................................................................................................................ 19 4.3 Roles and Responsibilities ................................................................................................ 19 5.0 General Design Criteria .............................................................................................................. 20 6.0 Safety Criteria .............................................................................................................................. 20 6.1 Need for Explicit Criteria.................................................................................................. 20 6.2 Approach to Development of Safety Criteria ................................................................... 21 6.3 Recommended Risk Criteria for Space Nuclear Reactors ................................................ 23 6.3.1 Likelihood Criterion for Inadvertent Criticality Accidents ............................................... 23 6.3.2 Likelihood Criterion for Hot Reentry ............................................................................... 25 6.3.3 Public Health Criterion ..................................................................................................... 26 6.3.4 Consistency with Other Federal Regulatory Approaches ................................................. 28 7.0 Graded Approach to Safety Criteria .......................................................................................... 29 8.0 Potential Organizational and Process Changes ......................................................................... 31 9.0 Implications for RPS.................................................................................................................... 33 10.0 Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................... 35 Appendix A Study Group Members ................................................................................................... 38 Appendix B Exclusion of Cold Uranium Fuel from Approval Process ........................................... 40 iii List of Figures Figure 3-1. The U.S. safety review and launch approval process for nuclear-powered space missions.