Image by Brecht Corbeel.
“We are entering the ‘Nuclear NASA-era’ which represents a major transformation for space exploration,” said the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, Jared Isaacman, last week as he and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed an agreement titled “Accelerating American Leadership in Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion.”
Announcing the signing on October 8th in Washington, D.C., NASA issued a news release headed “NASA, Energy Department Advance New Era of Nuclear-Powered Exploration.” It further quoted Issacman as saying: “Nuclear power will allow us to go farther, operate longer, and field more capable spacecraft and instruments than ever before. The work we’re doing today is laying the foundation for the fission-powered spacecraft of tomorrow and opening an entirely new frontier for exploration and discovery.”
Ahead, however, would be accidents involving the expanded use of space nuclear power—notably in launches and fallbacks to Earth. The U.S. and also Russia have both had accidents in their use of nuclear power in space, detailed in my book “The Wrong Stuff.”
An early serious U.S. accident occurred on April 21, 1964 when a satellite powered by plutonium failed to achieve orbit and disintegrated as it fell back to Earth, spreading plutonium worldwide. Dr. John Gofman, an M.D. and Ph.D. and professor at the University of California at Berkeley who was involved in early work with plutonium for the Manhattan Project, linked the fall-out to a spike in lung cancer on Earth. It was a spur for NASA developing solar power for space and all satellites launched now utilize solar energy as does the International Space Station.
The signing followed news earlier in the week of the U.S., China and Russia “Racing to Put Nuclear Reactors on Moon,” as the New York Times headlined its lead front page story, with a subhead: “Experts Warn of Radioactive Risks From a Rocket Mishap or Lunar Meltdown.”
The NASA release said the pact “establishes a framework for end-to-end collaboration. The agreement unites both agencies across the full spectrum of space nuclear development, spanning advanced research and fuel production to rigorous testing, launch integration, and operations.”
The signing happened at what was named, said the release, “Science: A Golden Age Summit, hosted by the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington.”
The release quoted Wright as saying: “Thanks to President Trump, America’s nuclear renaissance is reaching a new frontier. The Energy Department is proud to partner with NASA as we help American space missions reach uncharted territory.”
The release continued: “President Trump’s December 25 Executive Order on Ensuring American Space Superiority directs NASA to develop a launch-ready lunar surface reactor by 2030, a goal toward which NASA, partnering with DOE, is making steady progress. This pivotal agreement fortifies existing collaborations on fission and radioisotope power systems propelling NASA’s vision for a sustained human presence on the Moon and accelerating the breakthrough technologies to enable our mission.”
It went on: “When NASA’s Space Reactor-1 Freedom launches in 2028, nuclear propulsion will advance from laboratory research to operational deep-space application This milestone paves the way for Lunar Reactor-1….Nuclear power will energize habitats, communications, instruments, rovers, resource usage, and critical lunar infrastructure, and it will be essential for the demanding energy needs for future Mars missions.”
The Space Reactor-1 Freedom and the Lunar Reactor-1 “form the foundation of a robust domestic nuclear-space industrial base. These programs are poised to power permanent lunar outposts, enable exploration of distant worlds, and cement American leadership in space for generations,” it said.
Further, it said, “NASA continues to expand its use of radioisotope power systems. The Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan, scheduled for launch in 2028, will rely on a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator and 24 Light Weight Heater Units [using atomic energy] to power and warm the car-sized rotorcraft.”
World Nuclear News, in its coverage of the NASA-DOE memorandum, began its article with: “Deep-space exploration is trading chemical rockets for nuclear fission.”
