The development of a megawatt-class nuclear power plant for space technology of a new generation has begun in Russia. The task is entrusted to the Keldysh Research Center. Anatoly KOROTEEV, Director of the Center, President of the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, tells Interfax-AVN about the importance of this project for Russian cosmonautics and its significance, Rewer.net writes.
- Anatoly Sazonovich, the development of a nuclear power plant has become a priority goal, for the achievement of which considerable resources will be concentrated. Is this really a project on which the future of astronautics depends?
- Exactly. Let's see what astronautics is doing today. We will see such areas as satellite communications, high-precision space navigation, remote sensing of the Earth - that is, everything related to information support. The second direction is the solution of issues related to the expansion of our knowledge of space beyond the limits of near-earth space. Finally, cosmonautics, both in our country and in other countries, is working to solve a certain range of defense tasks. These are conventionally three sets of tasks in space activities today. Time-tested, proven transport systems are used to solve them.
If we look at what we expect from astronautics tomorrow, then along with improving the range of tasks already being solved, the issues of developing production technologies in space are being raised. We are also talking about expeditions to the Moon and Mars. And not about visiting expeditions, which was the American expedition to the moon, but about a long stay on other planets so that you can devote sufficient time to their study.
In addition, questions are being raised about the possible power supply of the Earth from space, about the fight against the asteroid-cometary hazard. All these tasks are of a completely different order from those of today. So, if we think about how this complex of tasks is provided by the transport and energy structure, we will see that there is a serious need to increase the energy supply of our spacecraft and the efficiency of engines.
We have uneconomical vehicles today. Imagine, for every 100 tons flying off the Earth, 3% at best turns into a payload. This is for all modern rockets. Everything else is thrown away as burnt fuel.
With regard to long-term tasks, it is extremely important that we move in space economically enough. Here there is the concept of specific thrust, which characterizes the efficiency of the engine. This is the ratio of the thrust it creates to the mass fuel consumption. If we take the first German FAU-2 rocket, then its specific thrust in the old units of measurement was 220 seconds. Today, the best propulsion-energy system, using hydrogen with oxygen, gives a specific thrust of up to 450 seconds. That is, 60-70 years of work of the best minds in the world have raised the specific thrust of traditional rocket engines by only two times.
Is it possible to increase this indicator several times or by orders of magnitude? It turns out there is. For example, using nuclear engines, we could increase the specific thrust to about 900 seconds, that is, another two times. And using an ionized working fluid for acceleration, they could reach values of 9000-10000 seconds, that is, they would raise the specific thrust 20 times. And this has been partially achieved already today: on satellites at low thrust, plasma thrusters are used, which give a specific thrust of the order of 1600 seconds. However, such devices still need sufficient electrical power. If you do not take into account a completely unique structure - the International Space Station, where the electricity level is about 100 kW, then today the most powerful satellites have an electrical supply level of only 20-30 kW. It is very difficult to solve a number of tasks if we remain at this level.
- That is, you need a qualitative leap?
- Yes. Astronautics today is experiencing a state close to that in which aviation found itself after the Second World War, when it became clear that it was no longer possible to increase speed with piston engines, it was impossible to seriously increase the range, and generally to have economically profitable aviation. Then, as you remember, there was a leap in aviation, and they switched from piston engines to jet engines. Roughly the same situation is now in space technology. We lack the energy excellence to tackle serious challenges.
By the way, it became clear not today. Already in the 60s and 70s, both in our country and in the United States, work began on the use of nuclear energy in space. Initially, the task was set to create rocket engines, which, instead of the chemical energy of combustion of fuel and oxidizer, would use the heating of hydrogen to a temperature of about 3000 degrees. But it turned out that such a direct path is still ineffective. We receive high thrust for a short time, but at the same time we throw out a jet, which, in the event of abnormal operation of the reactor, may turn out to be radioactively contaminated.
Despite the huge amount of work that was carried out in the 60s and 70s in the USSR and the USA, neither we nor the Americans were able to create reliable working engines at that time. They worked, but not much, because heating hydrogen up to 3000 thousand degrees in a nuclear reactor is a serious task.
There were also environmental problems during ground tests of engines, since radioactive jets were thrown into the atmosphere. In the USSR, this work was carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site specially prepared for nuclear tests, which remained in Kazakhstan.
And yet, in terms of using nuclear energy for power supply of spacecraft, the USSR made a very serious step in those years. 32 satellites were manufactured. With the use of nuclear energy on devices, it was possible to obtain electrical power by an order of magnitude higher than from solar energy.
Subsequently, the USSR and the USA, for various reasons, stopped this work for some time. Today it is clear that they must be renewed. But it seemed to us unreasonable to resume in such a head-on manner in order to make a nuclear engine having the above-mentioned disadvantages, and we proposed a completely different approach.
- And what is the fundamental difference between the new approach?
“This approach was different from the old one in the same way that a hybrid car differs from a conventional car. In a conventional car, the engine turns the wheels, while in hybrid cars, electricity is generated from the engine, and this electricity turns the wheels. That is, a kind of intermediate power plant is being created.
In the same way, we proposed a scheme in which a space reactor does not heat the jet ejected from it, but generates electricity. The hot gas from the reactor turns the turbine, the turbine turns the electric generator and the compressor, which circulates the working fluid in a closed loop. The generator generates electricity for a plasma engine with a specific thrust 20 times higher than that of chemical engines.
What are the main advantages of this approach. First, there is no need for the Semipalatinsk test site. We can carry out all tests on the territory of Russia without getting involved in any long difficult international negotiations on the use of nuclear energy outside the state. Secondly, the jet leaving the engine will not be radioactive, since a completely different working fluid passes through the reactor, which is in a closed loop. In addition, we do not need to heat hydrogen with this scheme, here an inert working fluid circulates in the reactor, which heats up to 1500 degrees. We are seriously simplifying our task. Finally, in the end, we will raise the specific thrust not twice, but 20 times compared to chemical engines.
- Can you name the timing of the project?
- The project involves the following stages: in 2010 - the beginning of work; in 2012 - completion of the draft design and detailed computer modeling of the workflow; in 2015 - the creation of a nuclear power propulsion system; in 2018 - the creation of a transport module using this propulsion system in order to prepare the system for flight in the same year.
By the way, the phase of computer modeling was not previously typical for the created space technology products, but today it is absolutely necessary. On the example of the latest engines, which were developed in Russia, France and the United States, it became clear that the classic old method, when a large number of prototypes were made for testing, is obsolete.
Today, when the capabilities of computer technology are very high, especially with the advent of supercomputers, we can provide physical and mathematical modeling of processes, create a virtual engine, play possible situations, see where the pitfalls are, and only after that go to create an engine, as they say “in hardware.
Here's a good example. You have probably heard about the RD - 180 engine for the Atlas rocket created for the Americans at the Energomash Design Bureau. Instead of 25-30 copies, which were usually spent on testing the engine, it took only 8, and the RD-180 immediately went into life. Because the developers took the trouble to “play” all this on computers.
- What is the price of the issue?
- Today, 17 billion rubles have been declared for the entire project through 2018 inclusive. Directly for 2010, 500 million rubles have been allocated, including 430 million rubles - for Rosatom and 70 million rubles - for Roskosmos.
Naturally, we would like to believe that if the country's leadership says that this is a priority area, and the money has been allocated, then they will give it.
The declared amount is less than we would like, but I think this is enough for the coming years and a large range of works can be performed with this money.
Our institute has been appointed head of the nuclear power plant, the transport module, most likely, will be made by the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation.
In general, the project is based on cooperation, consisting mainly of the enterprises of Rosatom, which should make the reactor, and Roskosmos, which will manufacture turbochargers, generators and the engines themselves.
Of course, the work will use the scientific groundwork created in previous years. For example, the development of a reactor is based on a large number of decisions that were previously made on the nuclear engine. The cooperation is the same. This is the Podolsk Scientific Research Technological Institute, the Kurchatov Center, the Obninsk Institute of Physics and Power Engineering. The Keldysh Center, the Design Bureau for Chemical Engineering and the Voronezh Design Bureau for Chemical Automation have done a lot in a closed loop. We will make full use of this experience when creating a turbocharger. For the generator, we connect the Institute of Electromechanics, which has experience in creating flying generators.
In a word, there is considerable groundwork, the work does not start from scratch.
- Can Russia get ahead of other countries in this work?
- I do not exclude this. I had a meeting with the deputy head of NASA, we discussed issues related to the return to work on nuclear energy in space, and he said that the Americans are showing great interest in this issue. In his opinion, the possibility of speeding up work in this direction in the West cannot be ruled out.
I do not exclude that China can respond with active actions on its part, so we need to work quickly. And not only in order to get ahead of someone by half a step. We need to work quickly, first of all, so that in the emerging international cooperation, and de facto it is being formed today, we look worthy. So that they would take us there, and not take on the role of people who should make metal farms, but so that the attitude towards us would be the same as it was, for example, in the 90s. Then a large set of work on nuclear sources in space was declassified. When these works became known to the Americans, they gave them very high marks. Up to the point that joint programs were drawn up with us.
In principle, it is possible that there will be an international program for a nuclear power plant, similar to the ongoing program of cooperation on controlled thermonuclear fusion.
- Anatoly Sazonovich, in 2011 the world will celebrate the anniversary of the first manned flight into space. This is a good reason to remind about the achievements of our country in space.
- I think yes. After all, it was not just the first manned flight into space. The flight became possible thanks to the solution of a very wide range of scientific, technical and medical issues. For the first time, a man flew into space and returned to Earth, for the first time it was proved that the thermal protection system works normally. The flight had a huge international impact. Let's not forget that only 16 years have passed since the end of the most difficult war for the country. And now it turned out that a country that has lost more than 20 million people and suffered colossal destruction is capable of not only doing something at the highest world level, but even outstripping the whole world for a certain period. It was an extremely important demonstration that raised the country's authority and the pride of the people.
In my life there were two events of similar importance. This is Victory Day and the meeting of Yuri Gagarin, which I saw personally. On May 9, 1945, all of Moscow, from Red Square to the outskirts, went out to celebrate on the streets. It was truly a spontaneous impulse, and the same impressive impulse was in April 1961 when Gagarin flew.
The international significance of the half-century anniversary of the first flight must be strengthened. It is necessary to emphasize and remind the society about the role of our country in space exploration. Unfortunately, in the last 20 years, we do not do this very often. If you open the Internet, you will see a huge amount of material related, for example, to the American expedition to the moon, but there is not too much material related to the Gagarin flight. If you talk to current schoolchildren, I do not know whose name they know better, Armstrong or Gagarin. Therefore, I consider it absolutely correct to make the decision to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight at the state level and to give it an international sound.
The Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonautics will issue a medal for this event, which will be awarded to people who were related to the first flight or made a sufficient contribution to the development of astronautics. In addition, we are preparing to hold a large international conference, at which it is planned to discuss with foreign and Russian partners the features of manned space exploration that are characteristic of the current stage. There are a lot of difficult questions here.
If today we stop a hundred people on the street and ask which of the cosmonauts is flying in space now, God forbid, if three or four people answer us, and I am not convinced of this. And if we ask the question, what are the astronauts doing at the station, then even less. I think that the promotion of real space life, manned flights is extremely important, and it is not being done enough. There are a lot of stupid materials on TV, when someone met with aliens, or how aliens took someone away.
I repeat, the fiftieth anniversary of the first manned space flight is a truly epoch-making event, it must be celebrated in the most dignified way, both within our country and at the international level. And of course, our institute will take a direct part in this, he who was related to this flight and took part in it. A number of our employees of that period received state awards for solving flight problems in particular. For example, the deputy director of the then institute, academician Georgy Petrov, received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for the development of methods for thermal protection of a ship during descent from orbit. Of course, we will try to celebrate this event with dignity.
