Lightweight power bus for a baseload nuclear reactor in space

Environmental and induced interactions with the power distribution/power processing subsystem can become a serious problem for power systems rated at 10's to 100's of kilowatts because the power transmission bus weight and/or voltage, will increase dramatically. Utilization of new ceramic superconductors at 1000 A/cm/sup 2/, which has already been demonstrated at 77 K in a conductor configuration may eliminate both bus weight and distribution voltage problems in a high power satellite. The analytical results presented here demonstrate that a superconducting coaxial power transmission bus offer significant benefits in reduced distribution voltage and weight