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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

NASA has released [nasa.gov] a long-awaited Nuclear Power Assessment Study [fas.org] that examines the prospects for the use of nuclear power in civilian space missions over the next 20 years.

The Study concludes that there is a continuing demand for radioisotope power systems, which have been used in deep space exploration for decades, but that there is no imminent requirement for a new fission reactor program.

The 177-page Study, prepared for NASA by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, had been completed several months ago but was withheld from public release due to unspecified "security concerns," according to Space News [spacenews.com]. Those concerns may have involved the discussion of the proposed use of highly enriched uranium as fuel for a space reactor, or the handling of plutonium-238 for radioisotope power sources.

"The United States has spent billions of dollars on space reactor programs, which have resulted in only one flight of an FPS [fission power source]," the new NASA report [fas.org] noted. That was the 1965 launch of the SNAP 10-A reactor on the SNAPSHOT mission. It had an electrical failure after a month's operation and "it remains in a 1300-km altitude, 'nuclear-safe' orbit, although debris-shedding events of some level may have occurred," the report said.

In any case, specific presidential approval is required for the launch of a nuclear power source into space, pursuant to Presidential Directive 25 [fas.org] of 1977.

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