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Nuclear reactors the size of wastebaskets could power space settlements and space machines

Details

• The Kilopower project, a joint venture between NASA and the Department of Energy, is set to be the first nuclear fission reactor to reach space since the SNAP 10A project in the 1960s. A prototype is in testing, which makes it closer to launch than any of the other projects that popped up in the intervening decades.
• The cylinder of uranium would be the size of a coffee can. Even with its shielding and detectors, the device is still no larger than a wastepaper basket.
• The Kilopower reactor is designed to operate at two sizes, a one kilowatt (1,000 watt) model and a 10 kilowatt model.
• NASA’s New Horizons mission has a maximum power of 240 watts, and the power source on the Curiosity rover only provides 120 watts of electricity. Both of these are so-called nuclear batteries, converting heat from naturally decaying plutonium directly into electricity. But plutonium is in short supply, and 1,000 or even 10,000 watts is a big step up from what those power sources could pack, even if it’s small compared to our power needs here on Earth. Unlike those nuclear batteries, Kilopower's system creates a fission reaction, splitting uranium atoms to release energy that is then converted into electricity by attached engines.
• It's also designed to operate in the odd environment of space.

Conclusion

Other than space, this reactor can also find applications in powering remote settlements and villages of the world which are often off grid and accessibility to fuel is limited. This project has immense potential to be a great breakthrough.

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