Overview
- White House science advisers, in guidance released Tuesday, created a National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power to coordinate work across NASA, DOE and the Pentagon.
- The plan orders the Department of Energy to deliver a 60-day assessment of whether U.S. industry can build up to four space reactors within five years, including fuel and long-lead parts.
- NASA must start a fission surface power program within a month to provide at least 40 kilowatts on the Moon, and it will prepare an option to demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion.
- The guidance calls for design contests for low- to mid-power reactors and sets goals for reactors in Earth orbit as early as 2028, lunar launches by 2030, and a mid-power in-space reactor by 2031 if funded.
- Officials say nuclear systems could supply steady power through 14.5-day lunar nights and drive electric propulsion, while experts disagree on timing even after a DOE–NASA reactor demo in 2018.