US embraces nuclear reactors to power spacecrafts
thirty years after they were abandoned for good, nuclear reactors are making a fatal comeback in the us spacecrafts. In 2003, the us National Aeronautics and Space Administration (nasa) was notified about a federal commitment of us $3 billion to develop nuclear-fuelled engines in the next five years. The sum is three times more than what was promised previously. Appallingly, the Bush administration's decision to broaden the nation's nuclear-powered rocket programme, called Project Prometheus, came soon after the 2003 Columbia space shuttle mishap. "Had a nuclear reactor been aboard the Columbia, the result would have been a Chernobyl in the sky. Ironically, such facts are always ignored by the president,' assert experts.
The showpiece of nasa's new nuclear adventure is an engine of an unmanned spaceship called the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, which is scheduled to orbit around the three moons of Jupiter after 2011. nasa's nuclear armoury also includes a new generation of radioisotope thermoelectric generators that can be used for interplanetary missions.
The us reposition to nuclear energy has baffled many scientists across the world. "Nuclear rockets are not safe. In the event of an accident/crash, they can prove fatal for life-forms,' says G Madhavan Nair, chairperson of Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation. Experts from the us agree. "The technology is completely unnecessary and could have a devastating global impact if there is an accident while the craft is being launched,' asserts Bruce Gagnon of the us-based Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. According to him, nuclear space reactors pose three key hazards: firstly, it will involve the use of plutonium while firing launchers. This may increase the chances of a fatal accident. Secondly, the world will be forced to produce more plutonium; this undoubtedly means contamination of the environs near units manufacturing the radioactive element. Thirdly, the nuclear technology of nasa will inevitably be used by the military. The reactors will end up in the hands of