Work on domestically produced nuclear rocket motors

• Published in: Atomic energy (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 86; no. 4; pp. 283 - 287
• Main Authors: Ponomarev-Stepnoi, N. N., Talyzin, V. M., Pavshuk, V. A., Koroteev, A. S., Konyukhov, G. V., Pupko, V. Ya, Konovalov, V. A., Raskach, F. P., Ulasevich, V. K., Smetannikov, V. P., Kolganov, V. D., Fedik, L. I., D’yakov, E. K., Mogil’nyi, I. A., Rachuk, V. S., Belogurov, A. I., Mamontov, Yu. I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Nature B.V 01.04.1999
• Subjects: Reactors; Rockets
• ISSN: 1063-4258; 1573-8205
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02673143

The history and basic results of work on nuclear rocket motors (NRMs) in Russia are presented. S.P. Korolev, I.V. Kurchatov, M. V. Keldysh, A. P. Aleksandrov et al. stood at the source of the work in this direction. Our NRM reactors used a heterogeneous scheme with a modular core. This enable component-by-component debugging of the reactor experimentally to the required degree of reliability. Ultimately, the costs of the complex tests were minimized, and technical characteristics obtained exceeded those obtained abroad. The energy-release density in the fuel elements reached 30 kW/cm^sup 3^, and the temperature and rate of heating of the working body (hydrogen) reached 3100 K and 1000 K/sec, respectively.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]