A gas-cooled cermet reactor system for planetary base power

Fission nuclear power is foreseen as the source for electricity in colonization exploration. A gas-cooled, cermet-fueled reactor is proposed that can meet many of the design objectives. The highly enriched core is compact and can operate at high temperature for a long life. The helium coolant powers a Brayton cycle that compares well with the SP-100-based Brayton cycle. The power cycle can be upgraded further under certain siting-related conditions by the addition of a low temperature Rankine cycle

Comparison of analytical transport and stochastic solutions for neutron slowing down in an infinite medium

A comparison of the numerical solutions of the transport equation describing the steady neutron slowing down in an infinite medium with constant cross sections is made with stochastic solutions obtained from tracking successive neutron histories in the same medium. The transport equation solution is obtained using a numerical Laplace transform inversion algorithm. The basis for the algorithm is an evaluation of the Bromwich integral without analytical continuation. Neither the transport nor the stochastic solution is limited in the number of scattering species allowed. The medium may contain an absorption component as well

The searchlight problem for neutrons in a semi-infinite medium

The solution of the Search Light Problem for monoenergetic neutrons in a semi-infinite medium with isotropic scattering illuminated at the free surface is obtained by several methods at various planes within the medium. The sources considered are a normally-incident pencil beam and an isotropic point source. The analytic solution is effected by a recently developed numerical inversion technique applied to the Fourier-Bessel transform. This transform inversion results from the solution method of Rybicki, where the two-dimensional problem is solved by casting it as a variant of a one-dimensional problem. The numerical inversion process results in a highly accurate solution. Comparisons of the analytic solution with results from Monte Carlo (MCNP) and discrete ordinates transport (DORT) codes show excellent agreement. These comparisons, which are free of any associated data or cross section set dependencies, provide significant evidence of the proper operation of both the transport codes tested