Use of Integrated Test Facilities Adjacent to the Contained Test Facility at INEL Available to Purchase

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the Department of Energy have been pursuing for a number of years the development of nuclear power systems that could be used for space nuclear thermal propulsion, space nuclear electrical propulsion, space power systems, and bimodal systems that provide both power and propulsion capability. While federal development of space nuclear systems has waned in recent years as current world economic realities take effect, general interest in space continues to capture those with a vision to the future. This vision that nuclear power and propulsion systems are the key to eventual complete utilization and commercialization of space has led the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) to study the feasibility of developing an integrated space nuclear test facility. The INEL approached this issue using existing nuclear facilities with system engineering techniques, to ensure that any modification for one test program would not impact the use of the facility for other space nuclear system. From studies performed over the last couple of years, the Test Area North (TAN) facilities, including the Contained Test Facility (CTF), could be used to support space nuclear power testing at minimum incremental cost for each system with cost sharing for nuclear test across a number of programs, thus no single program would bear the entire cost of a nuclear test complex.