Title:

What I Did Last Summer: Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Design With BWXT

Speaker:

Mr. Matthew Krecicki

Affiliation:

Georgia Tech

When:

Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

Boggs Building, Room https://bluejeans.com/556700430/1259

Host:

Nolan Hertel
nolan.hertel@me.gatech.edu

Abstract

BWX Technologies, Inc. BWXT is working with NASA in support of the agencies Nuclear Thermal Propulsion NTP Project. BWXT is responsible for initiating conceptual designs of an NTP reactor in hopes of powering a future manned mission to Mars. BWXT has been making significant progress on NASAs NTP initiative, which has progressed from the Space Technology Mission Directorates Game Changing Development program to its Technology Demonstration Mission program. This talk will give a high-level overview of NTP systems, and describe the challenges associated with NTP reactor design.This is one of three student presentations on summer internship experiences.

Biography

PhD candidate in Nuclear Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology 2019 current MS in Nuclear Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology 2019 BS in Nuclear Engineering and BS Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2018. PhD student in the Computational Reactor Engineering CoRE laboratory. Current research focuses on developing coupled multi physics steady state and transient computational methods for nuclear thermal propulsion NTP reactors. Research is funded via Georgia Tech partnership with BWX Technologies BWXT. The project objective is to develop a computational framework for fuel licensing and development of NTP technology for successful in space demonstration. Co author on two BWXT patents related to HA LEU NTP reactor and fuel systems. Executive committee member of the American Nuclear Society Aerospace Technology division.