A neutronics analysis of long-life, sectored compact reactor concepts for lunar surface power

Neutronics analysis is performed of low temperature (≤900 K) Sectored Compact Reactor (SCoRe-Nx) concepts for operational lives >20 years. They are cooled with circulating liquid Nak-78. The reactor vessel and the UN fuel pins cladding are made of stainless steel. The power systems with the SCoRe-Nx concepts have no moving parts and employ SiGe thermoelectric elements for converting the reactor’s thermal power to electricity at a load voltage >300 VDC. Separate SiGe elements power the electromagnetic pumps that circulate the liquid NaK-78 in the reactor and 6 pairs of primary and secondary loops. Analysis confirmed that the submerged bare reactors in wet sand and flooded with seawater, in the unlikely event of a postulated launch abort accident, are sufficiently subcritical. Results show that the SCoRe-N5-S concept is capable of operating for 62 full power years at 200 kWth, while requiring 75% of the control drums to shutdown the reactor at BOL. With only 50% of the control drums required at BOL to shutdown the reactor, its operational life decreases to 39 full power years.