Related papers: Gas Core Reactors for Deep Space Propulsion
There is a strong motivation to develop high-power output nuclear fission reactors (around 1 MWe) for space applications, such as high-payload missions and long-duration missions beyond Mars, where the reduced solar flux makes using…
This study explores a simplified one-dimensional subchannel of a graphite-moderated nuclear reactor operating with a gaseous core in steady-state conditions, reproducing a neutronic-thermal-fluid-dynamics coupled problem with thermal…
We present results from simulations of core-collapse supernovae in FLASH using a newly-implemented multidimensional neutrino transport scheme and a newly-implemented general relativistic (GR) treatment of gravity. We use a two-moment method…
A deuterium-tritium (DT) nuclear pulse propulsion concept for fast interplanetary transport is proposed utilizing almost all the energy for thrust and without the need for a large radiator: 1. By letting the thermonuclear micro-explosion…
As a deep-Earth energy source, the planetocentric nuclear-fission georeactor concept is on a more secure scientific footing than the previous idea related to the assumed growth of the inner core. Unlike previously considered deep-Earth…
Cosmological explosions such as core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to be powered by the rapid conversion of roughly a solar mass' worth of gravitational binding energy into a comparatively small amount of…
The purpose of this communication is to suggest that the mechanism for generating the geomagnetic field and the energy source for powering it are one and the same, a nuclear georeactor at the center of the Earth. Toward this end, I: i)…
Transrelativistic supernovae (SNe), which are likely driven by central engines via jets or winds, have been among candidate sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). We investigate acceleration and survival of UHECR nuclei in the…
Pebble-bed nuclear reactor technology, which is currently being revived around the world, raises fundamental questions about dense granular flow in silos. A typical reactor core is composed of graphite fuel pebbles, which drain very slowly…
Knowledge about the interior of our planet is mainly based on the interpretation of seismic data from earthquakes and nuclear explosions, and of composition of meteorites. Additional observations have led to a wide range of hypotheses on…
We present results from the first generation of multi-dimensional hydrodynamic core-collapse simulations in full general relativity (GR) that include an approximate treatment of neutrino transport. Using a M1 closure scheme with an analytic…
Jet heating via nuclear collisions may be the main mechanism for gamma-ray burst (GRB) emission. Besides producing the observed gamma-rays, collisional heating must generate 10-100 GeV neutrinos, implying a close relation between the…
Graphene hydrogels were created and loaded with uranyl nitrate or thorium nitrate and freeze-dried to produce graphene aerogel nuclear fuels. These aerogels had densities between 0.018-0.035 g/cm3 and consisted of ~7.3 +- 0.5%…
The recent detection of delayed, low energy emission from Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) sources confirmed the cosmological origin of the bursts and provided support for models where GRBs are produced by the dissipation of the kinetic energy of…
I discuss the feasibility of a conceptual space-based neutrino detector that utilizes the Ice Giants as Targets for Galactic Neutrinos. The purpose of this research stems from the concept of wanting to find a new method of observing the…
We discuss neutrino and cosmic-ray emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) with the injection of nuclei, where we take into account that a nuclear cascade from photo-disintegration can fully develop in the source. One of our main objectives…
If international agreements regarding the need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions are to be met then there is a high probability that the shipping industry will have to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. For…
The basic physics for plasma core rocket engines was already completed in 1985. At the time successful containment of a fissioning uranium hexafluoride U(93%)F6 plasma was achieved for ~120 seconds using an argon vortex. Unfortunately,…
We consider the gamma ray burst (GRB) central engine that is powered by the collapse of a massive rotating star or compact binary merger. The engine is a hot and dense accretion disk, which is composed of free nucleons, electron-positron…
Hypercritical accretion flows onto stellar mass black holes (BHs) are commonly considered as a promising model of central engines of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this model a certain fraction of gravitational binding energy of accreting…