the Pewee reactor in the NERVA-Rover Program, this NDR design is graphite and hydride moderated. As a result, significant reductions in critical mass and overall reactor mass are possible as shown in Fig. 7. The basic NDR technology was successfully demonstrated in the NERVA-Rover nuclear rocket engine and reactor programs. Following those programs, fuel bead technology development continued for advanced commercial gas-cooled reactors. The NERVA-Rover technology and the post-NERVA fuel bead technology have been adapted in the NDR for the DOE Multimegawatt (MMW) Space Reactor Program. Details of the NDR design are shown in Fig. 8. The basic NDR concept is adaptable to numerous space power applications described in detail in Ref. [7]. These include the following: burst power for SDI weapon systems, bimodal power (burst power plus steady state, ‘housekeeping' power), steady state power for baseload or electric propulsion (extraterrestrial bases, orbital transfer, or outer planetary missions), direct thermal propulsion, and dual mode (thermal propulsion plus steady state power for housekeeping or electric propulsion). The NDR designs have system masses that are substantially less than all graphite moderated reactors designed to the same specifications. It should be noted that in the bimodal and dual mode systems, a single NDR provides the heat source for the dual power producing functions. This is made possible by a unique feature of the NDR—the existence of two separate sets of flow channels in the core which can be operated independently.
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