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NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center hosts nuclear propulsion cold-flow tests
Nuclear rocket propulsion has been investigated for decades, and NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission carried out significant testing in the 1960s as part of the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application program. NERVA chased the potential of the efficiency and energy density of nuclear thermal propulsion to extend our reach to new space frontiers before the program ended in 1973.
Jeffrey W. Ray, Albert B. Reynolds
Nuclear Technology | Volume 91 | Number 3 | September 1990 | Pages 394-403
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34460
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of various antioxidants and antioxidant concentrations on the room-temperature radiation stability of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) materials used as insulation for electric cable in nuclear power plants is measured. Relative elongation to rupture between aged and unaged material is used as the measure of stability. The materials are irradiated to doses up to 2.0 MGy (200 Mrad) at a dose rate of 300 Gy/h (3 x 104 rad/h) in the Cobalt-60 Gamma Irradiation Facility at the University of Virginia. Several of the antioxidants in EPDM perform well to the maximum doses for which reliable data were obtained of either 1.0 or 1.6 MGy. An XLPE material with Agerite™ MA antioxidant performs well to the maximum dose for which reliable data were obtained of 1.0 MGy. Stabilization at 1.0 MGy increases with increasing antioxidant concentration, though not in proportion to the concentration.