SNAP-10A - Safety

Safety

The SNAP reactor program necessitated a safety program and led to the inception of the Aerospace Nuclear Safety Program. The program was established to evaluate the nuclear hazards associated with the construction, launch, operation and disposal of SNAP systems and to develop designs to assure their radiological safety.

Atomics International had primary responsibility for safety while Sandia National Laboratories was responsible for the Aerospace Safety Independent Review and conducted many of the safety tests. Before launch was permitted, proof had to be obtained that under all circumstances the launch of the reactor would not pose a serious threat.

A variety of tests were successfully completed and several videos of the development and tests are available for viewing.

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