A Proposal of Toshiba 4S Micro Nuclear Reactor Vessel for Future Spacecrafts – Orion Interplanetary Vehicle

Abstract: The 4S is a sodium cooled reactor without on-site refueling. This was developed as a multi-purpose source for the distributing energy and has many applications. The thermal energy produced through this process can be used for the expansion of propellant disk thus creating an impulse. Normally nuclear power reactors are complex; the probability of accidents is high. But by this reactor both safety and simplicity can be attained. The shutdown of the reactor is easy. Moderator requirement can be eliminated by this design concept.