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Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) Component-Critical Experiments

Rene Sanchez, Travis Grove, David Hayes, Joetta Goda, George McKenzie, Jesson Hutchinson, Theresa Cutler, John Bounds, Jessie Walker, William Myers, Kristin Smith

Nuclear Technology / Volume 206 / Number 1S / June 2020 / Pages 56-67

Technical Paper – Kilopower/KRUSTY special issue / dx.doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1722553

Received:October 2, 2019
Accepted:January 24, 2020
Published:April 30, 2021

A series of critical experiments were conducted at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) in Nevada to evaluate the operational performance of a compact reactor that eventually will resemble the flight unit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will use for deep space exploration. The results from the experiments are compared to preliminary results from computational models using MCNP and ENDF/B-7.1 neutron cross-section data.