| NASA Center: |
Headquarters |
|---|
| Image # : |
65-H-49 |
|---|
| Date : |
01/12/1965
|
|---|
|
Title
Destruction of KIWI Nuclear Reactor
Full Description
A modified Kiwi nuclear reactor was deliberately destroyed at the
Nuclear Rocket Development Station in Jackass Flats, Nevada, as a
safety experiment simulating an accident during a launch.
Nuclear scientists imposed a sudden increase in power on the
generator, there was a rapid release of heat and energy that
caused the reactor to burst apart.
The safety experiment was designed to obtain basic reactor
shutdown information for use in predicting the behavior of
nuclear rocket reactors under a wide range of accident
conditions.
Kiwi was a project under the National Nuclear Rocket
development program, sponsored jointly by the Atomic Energy
Commission and NASA as part of project Rover/NERVA (Nuclear
Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application). The main objective
of Rover/NERVA was to design a flight rated thermodynamic
nuclear rocket engine. Kiwi was a prototype for a nuclear
rocket reactor that could be used in space travel. Gaseous
hydrogen was used as a propellant on the Kiwi-A tests that
began in 1959. Kiwi-A served as a learning tool to test
specifications and to discover changes that needed to be
implemented in the next phase of study, the Kiwi-B series.
This project began in December 1961 and used liquid hydrogen
as a propellant.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Nixon Administration
cut NASA and NERVA funding dramatically. The cutbacks were
made in response to a lack of public interest in human
spaceflight, the end of the space race after the Apollo
Moon landing, and the growing use of low-cost unmanned,
robotic space probes. Eventually NERVA lost its funding,
and the project ended in 1973.
Keywords
Kiwi NERVA Rover Jackass Flats Atomic Energy Commission Nuclear
Reactor
Subject Category
Rocket Propulsion
Reference Numbers
- Center:
HQ
- Center Number:
65-H-49
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2002-000145
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
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(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
JPEG |
60 |
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6 |
Small |
JPEG |
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564 |
164 |
Medium |
JPEG |
1005 |
1322 |
849 |
Large |
JPEG |
2010 |
2643 |
5,239 |
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Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
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