Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1
81 Appendix C. Historical SNS Accident C.1 COSMOS 954.
While SNS are novel technology for the U.S. commercial industry, governments have utilized SNS for decades (NASA 2021). One example that illustrates the risks of an uncontrolled SNS reentry occurred on January 24, 1978, when the Soviet Union Cosmos 954 satellite had a malfunction. Cosmos 954 contained a 3 kW BES 5 Buk fast neutron nuclear fission reactor employing 30 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel as a 90% (92U235) UMo alloy (IAEA 2005). Cosmos 954 failed to achieve proper orbital altitude, was unable to eject its reactor core, and made an inadvertent uncontrolled reentry (Connell and Trost 1994). The inadvertent reentry scattered tens of thousands of Curies (Ci) of radioactively hot nuclear reactor core debris including source fuel, toxic fission products, and activated materials over 124,000 square kilometers of Alberta and Saskatchewan regions of northwest Canada near the Great Slave Lake (Connell and Trost 1994), (Gummer, et al. 1980). The major axis of the dispersion ellipsoid for the radioactive debris field was 600 kilometers long in the downrange direction as depicted in Figure 6 of this AC (Gummer, et al. 1980).
Figure 6 – Cosmos 954 Debris Map (Gummer, et al. 1980) Most of the HEU fuel vaporized in the atmosphere over Canada upon reentry, however 500 roentgen per hour ground impact debris was located inside the dispersion ellipsoid (Gummer, et al. 1980). This is enough activity to be lethal for anyone in close proximity for one hour (CDC 2018). This historical context illustrates the potential for an SNS to cause events with significant public safety risk. To mitigate these risks, applicants need to rely on strong engineering principles, robust mission planning, and rigorous analysis without biases that may prove to be conservative (Title 14 CFR § 450.101 2022).
Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1
82 Appendix D. References 18th Space Control Squadron. 2020. "Spaceflight Safety Handbook for Satellite Operators Version 1.5." Accessed February 18, 2021. https://www.space-track.org/documents/ Spaceflight_Safety_Handbook_for_Operators.pdf.
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Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1
83 Connell, Leonard W., and Larry C. Trost. 1994. "Reentry Safety for the Topaz II Space Reactor:
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Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1
84 Gummer, W. K., F. R. Campbell, G. B. Knight, and J. L. Rickard. 1980. COSMOS 954 The Occurrence and Nature of Recovered Debris. Government, Hull: Minister of Supply and Services Canada.
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IAEA. 2008. "Safety Reports Series No. 53 Derivation of the Source Term and Analysis of the Radiological Consequences of Research Reactor Accidents." Accessed May 29, 2020.
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IAEA. 2005. "The Role of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Propulsion in the Peaceful Exploration of Space." Accessed August 12, 2021. https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/ PDF/Pub1197_web.pdf.
Idaho National Laboratory. 2015. "Atomic Power in Space II: A History." September. Accessed June 2, 2020. https://inl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/AtomicPowerInSpaceII- AHistory_2015_Contents-Foreword.pdf.
Knief, R. A. 2013. "Fundamentals of Nuclear Criticality Safety." Nuclear Criticality Safety Program. Accessed August 13, 2021. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1666283.
LaBel, Kenneth A. 2004. "Radiation Effects on Electronics 101: Simple Concepts and New Challenges." Accessed June 8, 2020. https://nepp.nasa.gov/docuploads/392333B0-7A48- 4A04-A3A72B0B1DD73343/Rad_Effects_101_WebEx.pdf.
Markey, E. 2003. "Infection of the Davis Besse Nuclear Plant by the "Slammer" Worm Computer Virus - Follow-up Questions." Accessed June 3, 2020. https://www.nrc.gov/ docs/ML0329/ML032970134.pdf.
McPherson, Kevin, Kenneth Hrovat, Eric Kelly, and Jennifer Keller. 2015. "A Researcher's Guide to: International Space Station Acceleration Environment." Accessed June 8, 2021.
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NASA. 2022. "NASA Procedural Requirements 8715.26 Appendix D. Activity and Radioactive Material Limits - Basic A1/A2 Values." NASA Procedural Requirements. February 3.
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85 Accessed February 14, 2022. https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?
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Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1
86 NRC. 2021. Public Involvement in Licensing. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nrc.gov/ about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/pub-involve.html.
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Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1
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Launch and Reentry of Space Nuclear Systems AC 450.45-1 88 Appendix E. Radiological Units Per NSPM-20 and 10 CFR part 830 this AC employs the widely used U.S. radiological units – Curie (Ci), rad, Roentgen (R), rem, and their sub-units. The NRC full text glossary is available on the NRC’s website and provides a comprehensive set of nuclear terminology definitions that are widely accepted. There is a difference between 10 CFR part 830 and the NRC glossary on the definition of Total Effective Dose (TED) that applicants should be mindful of.
Becquerel (Bq) – the system international (SI) unit of radioactivity. The Becquerel is one disintegration per second (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). The Becquerel is a much smaller unit than the Curie. 1 Bq = 2.70x10-11 Ci.
Curie (Ci) – the amount of radioactive material that will undergo 3.7x1010 disintegrations per second, which is the amount of activity in 1 g of Ra88226 (226-Radium) (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). The Ci is a US unit of radioactivity which has been used for more than a century and is widely employed worldwide. One Ci is a fairly large amount of radioactive material from a radiation health and safety perspective.
Gray (Gy) – An SI unit of absorbed dose of 1 Joule/kilogram (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). 1 Gray is equal to 100 rads (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020).
Radiation Absorbed Dose (Rad) – A unit for absorbed dose, the amount of ionizing radiation that will deposit 0.01 Joule of energy per kilogram of absorbing material, which equals 100 ergs of radiation energy per gram of matter (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). The rad is the US measure of absorbed dose and is widely used worldwide.
Roentgen Equivalent Man (Rem) – A unit of measure for dose equivalent or effective dose (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). The rem is the U.S. measure and is widely used worldwide. The effective dose in rems can be calculated from the absorbed dose in rads by scaling the absorbed dose by a quality factor that accounts for the effectiveness of the specific type of radiation inducing damage in a biological tissue (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). 100 rem is equivalent to 1 Sv (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020).
Roentgen (R) – the amount of ionizing radiation that will produce 0.000258 coulombs/kilogram of dry air at standard temperature and pressure (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). The Roentgen (R) is the US unit of radiation exposure.
Sievert (SV) – the Sievert (Sv) is the SI unit of effective dose, equivalent to 1 Joule/kilogram (Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2020). 1 Sievert = 100 rem
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