Nuclear Engineering Commons^™

Optimal Designs Of Mobile Nuclear Engines To Power Manned Vehicles On Mars, Robert D. Woolley

Masters Theses

This work develops original conceptual designs for compact nuclear fission reactor engines to power robust mobile equipment operating on the surface of the planet Mars. This is a nuclear application area not well explored in previous publications. Some novel analytical approaches are developed herein, including the application of optimal control theory to minimize radiation shielding mass. This work also provides the first study of using another planet's atmosphere to implement open-cycle thermal conversion systems.

To power equipment on Mars for extended durations at sustained power levels ranging from one hundred horsepower to several thousand horsepower, there is no practical alternative …

A Methodology For Establishing Zones Of Acceptable Caas Coverage For A New Storage Facility Utilizing Mcnp 5 In Adjoint, Zia A. Tompkins

Masters Theses

ANSI/ANS 8.3 “Criticality Accident Alarm System”, Appendix B states “Determining the adequacy of criticality alarm detector placement is far from an exact process”. With this statement in mind a novel method for establishing areas of acceptable Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS) coverage was developed and demonstrated utilizing Los Alamos’ Monte Carlo N-Particle Code 5 (MCNP5) in multigroup Adjoint. Validation of the methodology was shown in the comparison of benchmark calculations with empirical results of Sandia testing and with hand calculations utilizing ANS 8.3. Demonstration involved the determination of zones of CAAS coverage from detector sensitivity maps generated by MCNP5 for …