Thermionic Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Bimodal Reactor

BIMODAL REACTORS FOR POWER AND PROPULSION HAVE LONG BEEN OF INTEREST FOR MISSIONS REQUIRINGS BOTH HIGH POWER AND LARGE DELTA-V; E.G., HIGH ALTITUDE, GEOSYNCHRONOUS AND PLANETARY MISSIONS. IT PROPULSIVE THRUST AND ELECTRIC POWER CAN BOTH BE SUPPLIED FROM THE SAME UNIT, A LARGE POTENTIAL SAVINGS CAN OCCUR. SUCH A REACTOR CAN BE DEVELOPED FROM A URANIUM CARBIDE FUELED THERMIONIC REACTOR WITH SINGLE CELL THERMIONIC FUEL ELEMENTS. IT IS PROPOSED THAT SINGLE-CELL THERMIONIC FUEL ELEMENTS COULD BE CONSTRUCTED WITH INTERNAL PASSAGES FOR HYDROGEN EXHAUST, WHEREAS CONVENTIONAL URANIUM DIOXIDE IS NOT. THUS, THE ABILITY TO USE URANIUM CARBIDE FUEL REPRESENTS ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR BIMODAL OPERATION.