plutonium

NNSA Moves to Expand Plutonium Pit Production January 13, 2020

The National Nuclear Security Administration said last week that it will proceed with a plan to sharply expand production of plutonium “pits” — the…

DOE Seeks to End MOX Plutonium Disposal Program February 26, 2018

The Trump Administration requested $220 million next year “to continue the orderly and safe closure of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility.” The MOX Fuel…

Pluto Flyby Mission Powered by Plutonium July 7, 2015

News of the Earth these days is such that one welcomes news from elsewhere, especially when it concerns a prospect as spectacular as the impending flyby of Pluto…

Where does the plutonium come from? September 30, 2013

Last week I wrote about how the shortage of Pu-238 might impact the exploration of the outer Solar System, but I didn’t much get into where the plutonium comes from. After all, while there are trace amounts of natural plutonium, there certainly isn’t nearly enough to fuel a space probe. So this week it seemed […] The post Where does the plutonium come from? appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

Houston – we need some plutonium September 26, 2013

The outer Solar System is a dark and lonely place – solar energy drops off with the inverse square of distance to the Sun so a spaceship in orbit around Jupiter (5.5 times as far from the Sun as the Earth) receives only about 3% as much solar energy as one orbiting Earth. Solar panels […] The post Houston – we need some plutonium appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

Yucca Mountain: Questions and Concerns September 19, 2013

Yucca Mountain raises a lot of controversy – let’s face it; if it didn’t then a 4-part series of blog postings would hardly be necessary. Part of the reason for the controversy is that there are a number of worries about the impact of spent fuel disposal on the environment and on the health of […] The post Yucca Mountain: Questions and Concerns appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.