NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plan to develop a new kind of nuclear fuel using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for their new nuclear thermal reactor to send manned missions to the Moon and Mars, senior officials from both agencies said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2023) NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plan to develop a new kind of nuclear fuel using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for their new nuclear thermal reactor to send manned missions to the Moon and Mars, senior officials from both agencies said on Tuesday.
"The availability of HALEU changes the game," DARPA Director Stephanie Tompkins told the 2023 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Forum. "(The new fuel) could change our transportation capabilities in cislunar and in outer space (operations)."
HALEU-powered nuclear engines will only be used 480 miles (700 kilometers) to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) above the surface of the earth and will remain in space for at least 300 years before their orbits decay and by then all radioactive materials will have safely degraded, NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy told the conference,
"HALEU is not considered (nuclear) weapons grade material so the potential for commercial use is there," Melroy added.
Tompkins pointed out that the new fuel could allow greatly expanded human exploration and permanent settlement throughout the Solar System.
