Old myths and new realities: A 21st century space reactor cost estimate

This paper reports on a detailed costing by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for the development of the Heatpipe Power System (HPS). This HPS is unique in that it was created in part to reduce development and deployment costs, as well as development time (another significant cost driver). These unique design features are discussed as a basis for the development cost estimate. Key assumptions are core modularity, which makes required testing easier and less costly, as well as the ability of this reactor concept to be fully designed, developed, flight tested, and deployed without the expense of a full-power ground nuclear test. Assumptions for a streamlined program management structure to keep costs at a minimum also are discussed. The various elements of the development program also are presented in summary. The development program of the HPS, to include reactor, heat pipes, shielding, instrumentation and control, reflector, and heat-pipe to gas-heat exchanges has been initially estimated by LANL and MSFC as $210-$250 million and requires 7 years to develop and test for a 400-KW(th) HPS coupled to a Brayton conversion system.