Nuclear fission rocket

Boehm, Fortune,Dec 1957, pp 167 172 (Nuclear Fission Rocket) 15). W.Herrick,... 

Uses. To implode fissionable material in nuclear devices to achieve critical mass as a component of plastic-bonded explosives and solid fuel rocket propellants and as burster charges in military munitions. 

Hydrogen is also important in fuel production. Hydrocracking uses the partial pressure of hydrogen gas to break down complex organic molecules, and forms by-products such as ethane, aromatics, and jet fuels. Liquid hydrogen is also used as a rocket fuel. In fission-based nuclear reactors, heavy water (where deuterium replaces regular hydrogen) is used as a neutron moderator. 

Chlorine trifluoride is commercially available but is extremely reactive. For example, it reacts explosively with cotton, paper, and even water. It forms a hyper-golic (self-igniting) rocket fuel with hydrazine although handling concerns present major difficulties. As N-stoff ( substance N ) it was produced by Nazi Germany as a potential incendiary weapon and poison gas, but the war ended before it could be used. Because its reaction with uranium produces gaseous uranium hexafluoride, chlorine trifluoride is used in both the production and reprocessing of nuclear fuels. In the form of UF6( g-), uranium can be enriched in the fissionable U-235 isotope, and the formation of this gas serves to help separate unused uranium from nuclear fuel rods. 

There are three basic types of electric propulsion systems electrothermal, electrostatic, and electromagnetic. In electrothermal propulsion, the propellant is heated either by an electric arc or a resistance heater. The hot propellant is then exhausted through a conventional rocket nozzle to produce thrust. Electrostatic propulsion uses electric fields to accelerate charged particles through a nozzle. In electromagnetic propulsion, an ionized plasma is accelerated by magnetic fields. In all three types, electricity from a nuclear source, such as a fission reactor, is used to power the propulsion device (Allen et ak, 2000 Bennett et al., 1994). The power flow for a typical nuclear-electric propulsion scheme is shown in Figure 1. 

---