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1 February 2002 |
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http://www.space.com/news/nasa_nuclear_020201.html |
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According to SPACE.com sources, for numbers of months, NASA, the Department of Energy, as
well as the Defense Department, have discussed ways to restart a multi-faceted space nuclear power program. The Bush White House is seeking to rekindle work in this area, an initiative that
could have a dramatic ripple effect in blueprinting future robotic and human missions to Mars, establishing a lunar base, explore Jupiter's ice-covered satellite, Europa, as well as open up
for exploration other outer planet destinations. According to Steven Aftergood, an analyst at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington,
D.C., "there is no question that space nuclear power could dramatically enhance the possibilities for space exploration." Among other things, he told SPACE.com, a space reactor would
make it possible to undertake a multi-decade mission beyond our solar system.
"I think that would be 'uplifting' in more ways than one and I hope to see it happen in my
lifetime," Aftergood said. Boom-and-bust
pattern Space nuclear reactor technology has followed a boom-and-bust pattern of development since the
1950s, Aftergood said. The U.S. launched one space reactor in 1965, a 500-Watt system that operated for 43 days and
which remains in orbit. The last U.S. space reactor development program, a joint NASA-Defense Department effort known as the SP-100, was terminated ten years ago following the expenditure of
nearly half a billion dollars. Between 1967 and 1988, the former Soviet Union hurled spaceward some 30 reactors. The U.S. has launched some two-dozen spacecraft utilizing plutonium-powered electrical generators
-- which are not reactors -- that produce a low level of electricity. For instance, the devices energize such spacecraft as the Galileo probe now exploring Jupiter, the Ulysses probe's
exploration of the Sun, and the Cassini mission, now trekking outward to Saturn. Given a funding go-ahead, the Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission will rely on a nuclear power source. Outer planet exploration using advanced radioisotope electric propulsion has recently been
evaluated by teams at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. In a recent co-authored technical paper, lead author, Steve Oleson of NASA Glenn, said a
radioisotope power source for small electrically powered orbiter spacecraft makes possible missions to Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. While a reactor-powered system would provide quicker trip
times and more science payload mass and power, radioisotope electric propulsion (REP) alleviates the need for a reactor and large launch vehicles. The use of space nuclear reactors, Aftergood said, is dictated whenever moderate levels of
electrical power -- tens of kilowatts or more -- are required in space over an extended period of time.
Burden of proof The NASA nuclear effort is a two-sided coin, Aftergood said. "By the same token, space reactors
could also be used to power space weapons and other military systems in orbit, attracting the opposition of some arms control advocates and environmentalists." "Certainly there will be public acceptance issues. The burden of proof will be on the government
to show that safety risks have been minimized to an acceptable degree. Even so, some people will be categorically opposed. But considering the other news of the day, an old fashioned controversy about space
nuclear power would come as a relief right about now," Aftergood said. Funding the program will be a more immediate challenge, particularly as the country enters a new period of deficit
spending, he said. |
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31 January 2002 |
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REDUCING INTERAGENCY BARRIERS IN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL RESOURCES (TIME OUT)
For the first time in a decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will request funding for development of a space nuclear reactor in the 2003 budget request to be released next week. Space nuclear reactor technology has followed a boom-and-bust pattern of development since the 1950s. The U.S. launched one space reactor in 1965, a 500 Watt system that operated for 43 days and which remains in orbit. The last U.S. space reactor development program, a joint NASA-Defense Department effort known as the SP-100, was terminated ten years ago following the expenditure of nearly half a billion dollars. (The Soviet Union around 30 reactors between 1967 and 1988. The U.S. has launched some two dozen spacecraft utilizing plutonium-powered electrical generators -- which are not reactors -- that produce a low level of electricity, for missions such as the Cassini probe to Saturn in 1995.) NASA is proposing the new reactor initiative in order to support future space exploration programs, an informed official said. He noted uncertainty about the viability of the program in the current budgetary environment. He also expressed concern about possible attempts to involve the Defense Department in the program, fearing such a move might make it more vulnerable to political opposition. The use of space nuclear reactors is dictated whenever moderate levels of electrical power (tens of kilowatts or more) are required in space over an extended period of time. The availability of a space nuclear reactor could enable a variety of ambitious space exploration programs such as a multi-decade mission beyond our solar system. By the same token, space reactors could also be used to power space weapons and other military systems in orbit, attracting the opposition of some arms control advocates and environmentalists. In an attempt to square this circle, the Federation of American Scientists and Soviet colleagues in 1988 proposed a ban on the operation of nuclear reactors in Earth orbit that would nevertheless permit their use for space exploration. See "Nuclear Power in Space," Scientific American, June 1991, for background on the checkered history of space reactors and discussion of the FAS proposal. For some reason there has recently been a small surge of policy interest in space nuclear power, independent of the new NASA initiative. "Thermionics Quo Vadis?" is the curious title of a new National Research Council report on the status of thermionics, which is an energy conversion technology used in some space reactor designs. The report provides some general information on space nuclear power. See: http://www.nap.edu/books/030908282X/html/ The Department of Energy Inspector General reported this month on the administration of DOE's Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems program, which provides plutonium-powered electrical generators for NASA missions. See: http://www.ig.doe.gov/pdf/ig-0540.pdf
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