VIRTUAL
 
Thursday, September 10th , 2020
3:45 – 4:45 p.m.
WEBEX
 
Join meeting
 
  
Speaker: David Irvin Poston
 
            NEN-5: SYSTEMS DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
LANL
 
 
“KRUSTY: The first nuclear-powered test of a new US fission reactor concept in over 40 years.”
 
 
 
Abstract: 
 
The Kilopower Reactor Using TechnologY (KRUSTY) test was the first successful nuclear-powered operation of a new reactor concept in the US in over 40 years. KRUSTY was a prototype of a 1-kWe power system for use on NASA deep-space missions, and is directly applicable to 10 kWe power systems for uses on the Moon and Mars, and for nuclear electric propulsion missions to the outer solar system. The KRUSTY reactor consisted of a highly-enriched uranium-alloy core (7% molybdenum), surrounded by a beryllium oxide neutron reflector. Sodium heat pipes were used to transport the power from the fuel at ~800 C to Stirling converters, which provided electricity. The KRUSTY reactor was envisioned, proposed, and designed within LANL NEN-5, initially via LDRD funding. Several other NEN-division and NASA engineers executed the testing at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site. KRUSTY was designed to simplify reactor physics as much as possible, which facilitated safety approvals and allowed accurate predictions of reactor performance. The coupled thermal/neutronic performance of the reactor matched extremely well with pretest predictions, which utilized nuclear data from the ENDF/B-VII evaluations. The self-regulating and load-following response of the reactor was proven, paving the way for a potential flight mission using the reactor technology in the near future.
 
David Poston is the leader of the Compact Fission Reactor Design Team at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  This team is responsible for the design and development of nuclear fission reactors for civilian, NASA, and defense applications in space. Dr. Poston is the Chief Reactor Designer for the NASA Kilopower Project, including the DUFF and KRUSTY reactor experiments. Dr. Poston’s 25 years of space reactor experience has been primarily focused on near-term concepts for solar system exploration (including designs for missions to the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune). In addition, Dr. Poston has developed several Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) design concepts for NASA over the past several years. Prior to his experience at Los Alamos, Dr. Poston worked at GE Nuclear Energy for four years on advanced reactor design. Dr. Poston received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, an MS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan.