A key technology challenge for a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system is the fabrication of a stable high temperature fuel. This innovative project seeks to develop modeling and simulation approaches to help in fuel element verification, since there are no test facilities in the U.S. capable of producing the required environment for effects of radiation and high-pressure, high-temperature hydrogen. Simulating the degradation of properties in CERMET fuels under the harsh operating conditions will require innovative computational analysis not currently available.
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