Why we need plutonium power for space missions
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Making Plutonium-238
Plutonium-238 poses a problem: it is constantly disappearing. Unlike fission nuclear power, where energy production can be regulated, Pu-238 decays at a constant rate. This rate is known as an element’s half-life, the amount of time it takes for half of any given radioactive substance to change to its stable atomic state. For Plutonium-238, it’s 88.7 years. This is long enough to be useful for space exploration missions, but short compared to geologic timescales. Any naturally occurring Pu-238 decayed eons ago, leaving only trace amounts to be found on Earth. Therefore, Plutonium-238 must be created. And not just once, but constantly, in order to replace the constant amounts lost to its unceasing decay.
Creating Plutonium-238 is not easy. It requires nuclear reactors, an advanced industrial base, and skilled engineers and technicians. It is also radioactive, and therefore subject to intense health, safety, and security protocols.
During the Cold War of the mid-20th century, large amounts of Plutonium-238 were created as a byproduct of nuclear weapons production. But as the nuclear arms race wound down in the late 1980s, the prime source of production, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, was shut down. This left the United States with an existing but gradually depleting stockpile of useful Pu-238 for space exploration.
The Department of Energy produces all radioactive materials for the United States, for medical needs to nuclear bombs. NASA cannot make its own plutonium; it relies on the DOE.
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