Aircraft Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Direct cycle nuclear engines resemble a conventional jet engine without combustion chambers. The air gained from the compressor section is sent to a plenum that directs the air into the nuclear reactor core. An exchange takes place where the reactor is cooled, but it then heats up the same air and sends it to another plenum.. Download scientific diagram | The Nuclear Thermal Electric Rocket Engine schematic from publication: Nuclear Thermo-Electric Thruster | We present a theoretical analysis of an innovative.
The engine is in the left background with a shield structure in the mid/foreground. A nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is a type of thermal rocket where the heat from a nuclear reaction replaces the chemical energy of the propellants in a chemical rocket.. Download scientific diagram | Nuclear thermal rocket engine a) drawing showing propellant flow (after Koenig, 1986) b) photograph of nuclear rocket engines tested in the Rover/NERVA programs from.