A consortium of US agencies are involved in the Thermionic System Evaluation Test (TSET) which is being supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). The project is a ground test of an unfueled Soviet TOPAZ‐II in‐core thermionic space reactor powered by electrical heat. It is part of the United States’ national thermionic space nuclear power program. It will be tested in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the New Mexico Engineering Research Institute complex by the Phillips Laboratoty, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the University of New Mexico. One of TSET’s many objectives is to demonstrate that the US can operate and test a complete space nuclear power system, in the electrical heater configuration, at a low cost. Great efforts have been made to help reduce facility costs during the first phase of this project. These costs include structural, mechanical, and electrical modifications to the existing facility as well as the installation of additional emergency systems to mitigate the effects of utility power losses and alkali metal fires.
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15 January 1992
Proceedings of the ninth symposium on space nuclear power systems
12−16 Jan 1992
Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)
Research Article|
January 15 1992
Thermionic system evaluated test (TSET) facility description
Jerry F. Fairchild;
Jerry F. Fairchild
Phillips Laboratory, Space Power Branch, PL/STPP, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico 87117‐6008
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James P. Koonmen;
James P. Koonmen
Phillips Laboratory, Space Power Branch, PL/STPP, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico 87117‐6008
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Frank V. Thome
Frank V. Thome
Sandia National Laboratories, Division 6474, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185‐5800
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AIP Conf. Proc. 246, 836–842 (1992)
Citation
Jerry F. Fairchild, James P. Koonmen, Frank V. Thome; Thermionic system evaluated test (TSET) facility description. AIP Conf. Proc. 15 January 1992; 246 (1): 836–842. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.41884
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