Conceptual design of a category III multimegawatt space nuclear power system

In the phase I effort completed in February 1989, six prime contractors conducted the tradeoff studies and analyses required to arrive at multimegawatt space reactor conceptual designs in three categories. The category I concept is capable of delivering tens of megawatts of electric power (MW_e) for hundreds of seconds with effluents permitted. Category II has the same basic requirements as category I, but no effluents are permitted. Category III is the same as category I but must produce hundreds of megawatts. Some of the results of the category III conceptual design studies are summarized. Design requirements are reviewed, an overall system description is presented, major components are identified, and primary state points are quantified. The present concept´s unique particle bed reactor is described