A fast spectrum heat pipe cooled thermionic power system

This paper summarizes the design and performance characteristics of a heat pipe cooled thermionic (HPTI) power system being developed by a team headed by Rockwell International and General Atomics (GA). The design utilizes multicell, in‐core thermionic fuel elements (TFEs) in a fast spectrum reactor core that is passively cooled by in‐core heat pipes. The fast spectrum promotes competitive mass scalability over the power range of interest for future military application of 10 to 100 kWe without changing basic components or technologies. The number of TFEs and companion uranium nitride fuel elements are merely varied to achieve the critical mass requirements for each power level. The redundant in‐core heat pipes in conjunction with an internally redundant heat pipe radiator help assure meeting key design goals for no single point failures and high survivability to both natural and hostile threats. These attractive attributes are achieved using already developed or under development technology.