Advanced research directions in thermionic energy conversion

An overview is presented of plans for thermionic energy conversion research for the next decade. The primary focus is on space nuclear power applications in the 10 to 1000 kW range. In addition to refining the state of the art for the conventional ignited mode converter, there are more generic technologies which will be pursued for a wide range of duty cycles. Desired attributes are improved lifetime, reasonable cost, high performance, and reliability without sacrificing the basic simplicity of the technology.<
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