Timothy M. Schriener
Post-Graduate Working Toward Ph.D.

Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies
MSC01-1120, FEC 237
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Phone: 505.277.3321
Fax: 505.277.2814
schrient@unm.edu

Education: B.S. Nuclear Engineering, Oregon State University, 2006.

Research Projects: Tim is pursuing research simulating the behavior and performance of space nuclear reactor power systems during both nominal and accident conditions.  Nuclear reactors can provide compact, reliable, long-life energy sources for outer planets exploration missions and surface electrical power systems for supporting future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.  One concept for avoiding single point failures in reactor cooling and energy conversion is to divide the reactor core into multiple independent hydraulic sectors, each with its own separate cooling loop, energy conversion equipment and heat rejection radiator.  In case of a loss of cooling accident in one reactor sector, the heat generated would transfer by conduction and radiation to adjacent sectors for removal to the coolant, while the reactor thermal power would be reduced to avoid overheating the fuel pins.  This could allow the nuclear power system to continue to operate safely and provide needed electrical power to mission critical systems.

Analysis of space nuclear power systems using sectored reactor cores is performed using a combination of detailed neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analysis of the reactor core with a dynamic multiphysics model of the complete space nuclear power system for transient analysis using Matlab Simulink.  The detailed analysis of the nuclear reactor is performed using the monte carlo radiation transport transport code MCNPX combined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) thermal-hydraulic simulation of the reactor core using the COSMOS FloWorks and STAR-CCM CFD solvers.  This methodology is being used to model the behavior of sectored space nuclear reactors suffering from loss of cooling accidents to verify that the reactor’s continued safe operation at a reduced power level.

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