BES-5
Sign in to saveAlso known as Bouk, Buk
BES-5, also known as Bouk or Buk (), was a Soviet thermoelectric generator that was used to power 31 satellites in the US-A (RORSAT) project. The heat source was a uranium 235 fast fission nuclear reactor (FNR).
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5 sectionsContents
- Background
- Reactor design
- Use in space
- See also
- References
BES-5, also known as Bouk or Buk (), was a Soviet thermoelectric generator that was used to power 31 satellites in the US-A (RORSAT) project. The heat source was a uranium 235 fast fission nuclear reactor (FNR).
==Background== Spacecraft nuclear reactors are typically fast reactors for the following reasons. First, normal moderator materials (carbon, water) add bulk and mass which is not desirable in a spacecraft. Second, for reasons of nucleonics, the fuel must be highly enriched to have a lightweight critical mass (similar to small reactor designs on nuclear submarines). Note that some of the 238U (which is fertile and not fissile) will be converted to 239Pu during operation, and this is taken into consideration during the design and while estimating the power output and design life expectancy.