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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Trump leaves space nuclear policy executive order for Biden team
A hot fire test of the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was not completed as planned. The SLS is the vehicle meant to propel a crewed mission to the moon in 2024. Source: NASA Television
Among the executive orders President Trump issued during his last weeks in office was “Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration,” which builds on the Space Policy Directives published during his term. The order, issued on January 12, calls for actions within the next six months by NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD), together with the Department of Energy and other federal entities. Whether the Biden administration will retain some, all, or none of the specific goals of the Trump administration’s space nuclear policy remains to be seen, but one thing is very clear: If deep space exploration remains a priority, nuclear-powered and -propelled spacecraft will be needed.
The prospects for near-term deployment of nuclear propulsion and power systems in space improved during Trump’s presidency. However, Trump left office days after a hot fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket did not go as planned. The SLS rocket is meant to propel crewed missions to the moon in 2024 and to enable a series of long-duration lunar missions that could be powered by small lunar reactor installations. The test on January 16 of four engines that were supposed to fire for over eight minutes was automatically aborted after one minute, casting some doubt that a planned November 2021 Artemis I mission can go ahead on schedule.
A. Molvik, A. Ivanov, G. L. Kulcinski, D. Ryutov, J. Santarius, T. Simonen, B. D. Wirth, A. Ying
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 57 | Number 4 | May 2010 | Pages 369-394
Technical Note | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST10-A9499
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The successful operation (with 60%, classical ions and electrons with Te = 250 eV) of the gas dynamic trap device at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk, Russia, extrapolates to a 2 MW/m2 dynamic trap neutron source (DTNS), which burns only [approximately]100 g of tritium per full-power year. The DTNS has no physics, engineering, or technology showstoppers; the extension of neutral beam lines to steady state can use demonstrated engineering; and it supports near-term tokamaks and volume neutron sources. The DTNS provides a neutron spectrum similar to that of ITER and satisfies the missions specified by the materials community to test fusion materials (listed as one of the top grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering) and subcomponents (including tritium-breeding blankets) needed to construct DEMO. The DTNS could serve as the first fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF), called for by ReNeW (the Research Needs Workshop), and could provide the data necessary for licensing subsequent FSNFs.
