Mobile Nuclear Fission Reactors
Roadmap Overview
As humans venture further into space beyond low Earth orbit to establish settlements, there emerges a need for reliable power generation technologies for human settlements on other planets. While photovoltaics, fuel cells, batteries, and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) are considered possible power sources, each have limitations within the scope of long duration missions that require higher loads and reliability to support human settlements. For example, solar arrays are highly dependent on the sun, meaning that it cannot generate power during night times. Batteries generally provide low power and have a short lifespan, making them unsuitable power sources for human settlements. As shown in the diagram below, the need for higher load powers and longer duration missions points to nuclear energy as a source of power for human settlements on other planets. The Mobile Nuclear Fission Reactor (MNFR) is a technology that can provide nuclear energy and will be the focus of this technology roadmap. It is important that we describe the nuclear fission reactor technology being roadmapped as being “Mobile” because it must be able to move freely and easily so that it can be transported from Earth to the planet via a launch vehicle.
Image taken from: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/16-851-satellite-engineering-fall-2003/2c8a1a136db0e366ae8d1a1e2995a505_l3_scpowersys_dm_done2.pdf
At high-level, nuclear fission reactors generate power through the nuclear fission chain reaction of fuel that is stored within the reactor core. The fuel contains fissile isotopes of elements such as uranium-235 and plutonium-239. The reactor core generates heat as a result of the chain reaction, and the heat is converted into kinetic energy and ultimately electrical energy that is distributed and used. Using nuclear fission reactors in extraterrestrial environments imposes constraints on the system which are inherently different from Earth-based reactor systems. Some examples of these constraints include the reactor size/mass (due to launch costs), safety, decommissioning, and cost of operations. This roadmap will allow us to project future nuclear fission reactor capabilities that we may potentially harness to generate power for future human settlements in space.