Table 5. Tentative Data for the Radioisotope System 



General 



Isotope Co^° 



Refueling cycle (years) 3 



Initial fuel loading (kw) 300,000 



Fuel loading, end of refueling cycle (kw) .... 200,000 



Electrical power (kw, net) 32 



Overall thermal efficiency (%) 16 



Steam Cycle 



Turbine inlet pressure (psia) 150 



Turbine inlet temperature ('-'C) 371 



Condenser saturation temperature (°C) 54 (max) 



Thermal efficiency at turbine shaft (%) 20 



Radioisotope power plants would have limited application in 

 underwater power systems because of the large volume per unit of energy 

 available. At the higher power levels of interest to the study program, nuclear 

 power plants were preferred for submerged power systems. 



In-Situ Plant Hulls 



Hull designs for in-situ plants depend on the hydrodynamic 

 characteristics of the deployment and recovery method selected. The in-situ 

 power source and associated energy conversion equipment could be incorpo- 

 rated into a pressure hull as a power module for deployment to the operational 

 depths. The load module, which was assumed to contain conventional opera- 

 tional systems, as described earlier, could be deployed completely independent 

 of the power module. However, since wet connectors required to mate the 

 power module with the load module in the deployed state do not exist, both 

 modules must be deployed together, preferably on a common foundation. 

 Mating the two modules at the surface with long cables and then deploying 

 each module separately was considered hazardous to mission reliability. 



Safety was considered of prime importance to ensure the integrity of 

 the entire system. A stress and material analysis of the in-situ power plant 

 pressure hull was required to determine the most cost effective hull for the 



20 



