“Yennisei” space nuclear power system

March 1, 2000 is the 25th anniversary of the power start-up of a prototype of the "Yenisei" space nuclear power watem, which is to supply power to the spacecraft for a direct television roadcasting system, on the stand "1" at the Russian Science Center "Kurchatov Institute." During the nuclear power tests, which continued for 5000 hours, the, subsequent finishing work, and a study of the state of individual components, it was demonstrated that the unit functions, properly under standard conditions. and the technology for preparing the unit for power tests and a procedure for starting up the unit and for performing power tests and the subsequent final adjustments together with an investigation of the critical component that determine the service life were developed. The results of the final adjustments and the investigations pointed the way to making the required improvements to the power-generating chanels in order to quarantee a service life of at least 15 years and then to increase it to 3 years at subsequent stages of the development work. The history of the development of the "Yenisei" nuclear power system is presented, the basic parameters and the results of comprehensive tests are described, and the international collaboration with the US is discussed. 7 figures, 1 table.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]