Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

Andras Bela OlahPropulsion and Energy Forum and Exposition 2014, 28-30 July 2014, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Landscape Format• Minimum of information on each slide

Highlight main points Use photos, charts, graphs

• No commercialism/advertising

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Project Orion: first attemt to use nuclear propulsion.• Never realized. Only viable way to use nuclear propulsion. • By this time.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Only fission bomblets could be used, this caused problems.• First problem is the nuclear fallout (the reason for deleting the project).• Second problem is the strength of the bomblet (critical mass).

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• 1st aim: solving the problem of nuclear fallout and radioactivity• First problem is the nuclear fallout (the reason for deleting the project).• Second problem is the strength of the bomblet (critical mass).• 1st aim:solving the problem of nuclear fallout

Usage of aneutronic pure fusion bomblets. If it is possible, then the critical mass limit can be also neglected

• 2nd aim: directing the energy of the nuclear explosion In case of Project Orion only a minor part of the explosion energy could be

used as thrust Present day structural materials are inadequate

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Only viable way for achieving fusion is the Teller-Ulam design.• The necessary compression is provided by the so called tamper-pusher ablation.• Inertial confinement fusion experiments try to make fusion on similar ways.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Magneto-inertial fusion (Sandia: wire-array z-pinch) seems to be quite promising.• Lorentz-force can create necessary high implosion velocities.• Problems: cylindrical design eventuates instabilites, it is used only as X-ray source.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• New design: keeping wire array structure.• Spherical geometry• Lorentz-forces used to accelerate heavy nucleons for achieving fusion by direct

impact.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• The implosion process: spherical geometry remains, fusion pellet is pushed from every direction.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Energy supply of the bomblet• 1. Connected with cables to the vehicle, which contains capacitor banks.• 2. Independent design: a helical explosively compressed flux generator (and its

smaller capacitor bank) is connected with the bomblet (first pulse).

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Turning the radiation energy (X-rays) of the explosion into kinetic energy of plasma.• The bomblet is jacketed. The inner jackets are made from lead. The outer are

made from lighter materials.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Directing the enegy: (nuclear) explosively compressed flux compression generator.• Vehicle scheme: behind the vehicle is a solenoid, which provides an initial magneti

field, which will be pumped by the nuclear explosion.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Two ways: 1. smaller explosions (few tons of TNT equivalent), the solenoid behind the vehicle is permanent, it acts as a magnetic nozzle.

• 2. bigger explosions (using the Teller-Ulam design), the solenoid explodes too. The star shape metal surrounding is necessary for effective flux pumping

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Simply pumping the magnetic field only by the bomblet jackets allow the plasma moving forward.

• An other kind of pumping is necessary at the same time. A hollow tube generator creates extremely dense magnetic flux between the bomblet and the vehicle. A magnetic bottle (open at the rear end) is created.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• The whole system in the case of using smaller bomblets (recommended).• There are magnetic rings between the solenoid and the vehicle, they work as a kind

of pneumatic system. • The middle of the vehicle is empty (there are always forward moving plasma

particles). The capcitors of the vehicle can be reloaded by MHD generators (using the electrons of this plasma) or simply using the appearing vortex circuits.

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Practical Realisation of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• The whole system in the case of using bigger bomblets.• There are still the magnetic rings, everything else is lost by each pulse (basically

wires and cables besides the bomblet).• The system is rather similar to a Gauss gun, which provides itself the necessary

magnetic field pulses, rather than a rocket with magnetic nozzle.

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