New Reactor Concepts Selected For Deep Space Exploration Three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system for deep space missions have been selected by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Energy (DOE). DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will award 12-month contracts to three consortia to each…
Slovenian Climate Strategy 2050 To Endorse Nuclear Energy The Slovenian National Assembly approved a resolution on climate strategy until 2050 under which Slovenia commits to become climate neutral in the coming 30 years. The resolution includes a provision saying that Slovenia will use nuclear energy in the long term, so supporting the country in decreasing…
ESA To Investigate The Production Of Nuclear Fuel For Space Missions The European Space Agency (ESA) has just awarded a contract to Tractebel to evaluate the possibility of producing plutonium 238 (Pu-238), the nuclear fuel used for space exploration, on its soil. The fuel powers nuclear batteries known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and radioisotope…
Tractebel Leads EU Project On Advanced Nuclear Space Technologies Following the recent contract awarded by the European Space Agency, Tractebel (ENS Corporate Member) has now been selected to head the consortium of PULSAR, a research and innovation project funded by the European Commission to develop nuclear technology to power space missions. Tractebel will conduct research…
Westinghouse Selected By NASA For Space Nuclear Design Project Westinghouse Electric Company (ENS Corporate Member) has been selected by NASA, in partnership with Battelle Energy Alliance, contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL), to provide an initial design concept for a fission surface power system that could be ready to launch…
Microreactors To Power Moonbases, A New Study Starts In Italy Designing a nuclear microreactor to power moonbases and support further space colonisation – this is the mission of the cooperation agreement signed last December by ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI – Italian…
CEA Starts New Studies On Nuclear For Space Exploration CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux énergies alternatives, ENS Corporate Member) is going to start new feasibility studies on nuclear propulsion in space on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). Nuclear propulsion, with its propulsive efficiency far superior to that of the chemical engines…
Westinghouse To Continue Developing Space Microreactor Concept Westinghouse Electric Company (ENS Corporate Member) announced that NASA, working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has selected the company to continue the development of a space microreactor design through the Fission Surface Power (FSP) project. The FSP project is focused on developing concept designs for small,…
Framatome and Perpetual Atomics to Advance Industrialisation of Space Batteries for Space Exploration Framatome (ENS Corporate Member) and Perpetual Atomics have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to study the industrialisation of processing americium into sealed sources for radioisotope power systems (“space batteries”), including radioisotope heater units (RHUs) and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). A radioisotope…