“A Nuclear Engine Design With 242mAm As a Nuclear Fuel”, Y. Ronen, M. Aboudy, D. Regev2000 ()⁠:

A preliminary design for an Otto cycle nuclear engine is presented.

The engine is based on the nuclear heating of a gas composed of H2 and 242mAm isomer as a nuclear fuel. This engine has an initial volume of 0.135 m3 and at 64 MPa the critical mass is 0.228 kg…Power is obtained by compressing the gas to a supercritical state. The energy released will push the piston and the engine will be subcritical…The novelty in the present approach is the use of 242mAm as a nuclear fuel leading to a very small critical mass of 0.228 kg.

The simplicity of the engine design might compensate for the use of rare nuclear fuel, such as 242mAm.

Figure 1: Schematic configuration of the nuclear engine (dimensions in cm).
Figure 2: The Otto cycle of the nuclear engine [pressure vs volume phase diagram]

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A Nuclear Engine Design With 242mAm As a Nuclear Fuel