Title: Design of thermal-hydraulic cooling in nanoscale environment of lunar nuclear power plant

Authors: Tae-Ho Woo, Tae-Woo Kim

Addresses: Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Gwanak 599, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Korea. ' Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daeduk-daero 1045, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-353, Korea

Abstract: The thermal-hydraulic design in the Moon is constructed for heat exchange by radiation heat transfer. The optimised length for the cooling loop is obtained for the safety aspect, which can show the reliability of the performance. The nanoscale content of the lunar environment gives a different kind of cooling substance from the Earth. Coolant of reactor core is made by potassium and that of the heat cooling pond is used by the lunar highland soils, one of the regolith, which contains SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and CuO as the main components. Very extreme temperature difference between daytime and night-time is assumed same as daytime temperature. Reliability of cooling performance is estimated, because many unexpected accidents are possible in the lunar surface.

Keywords: thermal-hydraulic design; nanoscale environment; lunar nuclear power plants; NPP; regolith; heat exchangers; safety assessment; moon surface; thermal-hydraulic cooling; radiation heat transfer; modelling; coolant stability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2010.035540

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2010 Vol.5 No.4, pp.298 - 309

Published online: 30 Sep 2010 *

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