suggest that consideration of the total power costs would lead to a modified Ref. [3] scenario with nuclear power added at an earlier phase in the lunar base evolution. Reference [3] considered nuclear power plants from the SP-100 class down to small plants of 10 kWe or less. Our results suggest that the SP-100 class plant could be utilized to provide the initial base nuclear power on an economically attractive basis. If so, there is no need for an additional class of smaller nuclear power plants and the significant additional costs that would be required for such a development program. Effect of Variables on Logistic Burden The nuclear power plant characteristics and the total lunar base energy demand will determine the logistic burden required to support the base. The logistic burden is measured by the number of heavy lift vehicle launches with the capability of delivering 93 metric tons to LEO and 19 metric tons to the lunar surface assuming cryogenic propulsion with a specific impulse of 460 seconds [3]. The reactor core lifetime, the nuclear plant rating, and the plant specific mass combined with the energy demand determine the number of HLLV launches required during each period of lunar base operation. It is assumed that all nuclear plants will operate with a load factor of 70% when supplying the annual base energy demand. Given the above, HLLV factors for the number of launches required per 1000 kWe-year of base energy demand were calculated as a function of the nuclear plant characteristics listed in Table II.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==