New Production of Plutonium 238

Saeed al-Sahaf writes "According to the New York Times (login req, but you can google for it as well), the Bush administration is planning the government's first production of plutonium 238 since the cold war. Federal officials say the program would produce a total of 330 pounds over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory. Officials denied that any of the classified missions would involve nuclear arms, satellites or weapons in space, but rather would power 'secret espionage devices.' Plutonium 238 has no central role in nuclear arms. Instead, it is valued for its steady heat, which can be turned into electricity. Nuclear batteries made of it are best known for powering spacecraft that go where sunlight is too dim to energize solar cells. For instance, they now power the Cassini probe exploring Saturn and its moons."

Comments

Also good practice for breeder reactors?

[mc6809e]

Nuclear power really won't take you very far unless you use breeder reactors. About 40 years by some estimates.

By using breeder reactors, we can have up to 40,000 years of energy.

Breeder reactors let you take U238, which is mostly useless for reactors, and turn it into Pu238, which is a great source of energy.

Maybe this is also practice for a larger project down the road.

Re:Also good practice for breeder reactors?

[Phase Shifter]

Nuclear power really won't take you very far unless you use breeder reactors. About 40 years by some estimates.

I've heard that if the existing weapons-grade plutonium were converted to reactor fuel (by "diluting" it with other isotopes) we would have enough to last 250 years.

BTW, don't you mean breeder reactors produce Pu-239 instead of Pu-238? I've never heard of Pu-238 being used for fission before.

Military applications, not NASA

[Vellmont]

On the second page of the article gives this relevant fact:

Today, the United States doesn't make plutonium 238 and instead relies on aging stockpiles or imports from Russia. By agreement with the Russians, it cannot use the imported material -- some 35 pounds since the end of the Cold War -- for military purposes.

So what it sounds like is the goverment needs the plutonium for military applications, not for NASA since they can already get Pu-238 from Russia for NASA missions.

MOD parent up

[benjamindees]

That's right. Other than for the benefits in powering espionage/space devices, this move could be laying the groundwork for full scale Pu238 production, to mix with Pu239 (from fast breeders), as a deterrent to the use of Pu239 for weapons. The world will need breeders soon, and neutralizing their potential for weapons use will be a priority.