Research & Development - February 2017

system. A Brayton power cycle uses air as the working fluid and as the means of ultimate heat removal.

MegaPower design and development process will rely on advanced manufacturing technology to fabricate the reactor core, reactor fuels and other structural elements. Research has also devised methods for fabricating and characterizing high temperature moderators that could enhance fuel utilization and thus reduce fuel enrichment levels.

—Robert Atcher, Professor of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico,
Los Alamos National Laboratory

MegaPower reactor is a scaled up version of the kiloPower reactor. This design incorporates ceramic nuclear fuel directly into a steel monolith (gray). Holes in the monolith provide access for heat pipes (bro wn) to remove fission heat and cool the core. The Be O reflector (tan) surrounds the core. Central B4C rod (pink) serves as the shutdown/startup rod. Source: Los Alamos National Laboratory NASA’s illustration of four kiloPower reactors (each with a power rating of 10 k We) being networked to meet human exploration needs on Mars. Similar architectural studies are under way to examine how kiloPower technology may be leveraged to design more powerful Mars Rovers. Source: Los Alamos National Laboratory