Hot End Thermal Management System for Nuclear Electric Propulsion

Nuclear electric propulsion systems provide a variety of benefits including increased science payload, reduced flight times and longer mission lifetimes. These advantages enable a wide range of missions such as manned missions to Mars, unmanned missions to the outer planets and deep-space. The thermal management system linking the reactor to the hot end of the power conversion system must be efficient, lightweight and reliable. These requirements become more challenging as the total power scales to the megawatt level. The Phase I program included successful demonstration of high-power heat pipes and the development of a reactor design.In this Phase II SBIR program, Advanced Cooling Technologies will lead the development and maturation of a highly reliable, efficient, and lightweight heat pipe-based thermal management system for the hot end of the power generation system for nuclear electric propulsion. High-power heat pipes will be used be used to transport thermal energy, at the megawatt scale, to the hot end of the power conversion unit. The proposed system is passive and highly reliable with built-in redundancy.