Reentry thermal testing of a general purpose heat source fueled clad

A General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) module was exposed to heat treatments simulating an isothermal prelaunch condition, followed by thermal pulses corresponding to atmospheric reentry. Helium release rates were determined during each heating and modeled after simple diffusion theory. Following the tests, the module was examined metallurgically with no evidence of swelling of the cladding nor degradation of the fuel