The in-core TFE type reactor carries the additional requirement that the reactor coolant must be contained in some sort of redundant system. Heat must be transferred from the TFE to a coolant loop with redundant paths. One possibility is to use fins to transport heat to an alternate loop. In the case of a fast reactor with no internal moderator, fins can be used to transfer heat to the neighboring TFE coolant passages. Several coolant pumps can be pumped by the same (redundant) electromagnetic pump system. In the case of moderated systems, fins can be used to transfer heat to a special loop provided especially for this purpose (see Figs. 2 and 3). Conclusions Though cursory in nature, the above analysis shows that the reliability goals established by the space nuclear power industry are very challenging and will require many device-years of testing, even if no failures occur during testing, which is a dubious assumption. Modularity is a vital asset for meeting this goal. Isolated test data are virtually meaningless when it comes to confidence level. To attain the high confidence goals suggested in the space nuclear power community, it is virtually mandatory to consider modular components which can be tested in large numbers (many tens or even a few hundred) to obtain meaningful reliability and confidence level measurements. REFERENCES [1] Rasor, N.S. et al. (1967) A thermionic reactor based on radiation heat transfer and demonstrated components, 1967 Thermionic Conversion Specialist Conference, Palo Alto, CA, October 30-November 1.
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