ABOUT KILOPOWER• The Kilopower project is a near-term technology effort to

develop preliminary concepts and technologies that could be

used for an affordable fission nuclear power system to enable

long-duration stays on planetary surfaces.

• The principal goal of the project is to sufficiently develop and

test nuclear power system technologies by 2018 so fission

power can be a viable option for NASA decision makers to

consider when making their informed selection of exploration

surface systems.

POWER

• In the past, NASA has used radioisotope

thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to power

spacecraft like Voyagers 1 and 2, the Apollo

Lunar Surface Experiments Packages, and

the Curiosity rover.

•This device directly converts heat from decaying

plutonium into electricity.

NOTES

•Most places in the solar system can't be reached

without nuclear energy.

•NASA uses plutonium-238 forged during the Cold

War to power its most ambitious missions.

•NASA is running low on the material, but the

Department of Energy is making more.

NOTES

•The US government stopped making Pu-238 in

1988. Russia sold some to NASA in the 1990s and

2000s, but it stopped selling around 2009 - most

likely because its Cold War-era stockpile ran out

URANIUM

•Because there is a shortage of plutonium suitable for

use on spacecraft, the core of the reactor will be of

solid, cast uranium-235 surrounded by a beryllium oxide

reflector.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLUTONIUM AND URANIUM?

• Plutonium (Pu) and Uranium (U) are just two completely

different elements. The both happen to be radioactive and

some of their isotopes are considered fissile material since

they are capable of sustaining a nuclear reaction.

• Plutonium is a transuranic element with an atomic number of

94 and is not found in nature. It was first made in 1940. It is

entirely man made

NOTES

•Uranium is another metal that is slightly

radioactive and was discovered in 1789.

• It is silvery white and corrodes to a black oxide in

air. It is a naturally occurring element that is

usually used in nuclear reactors

NOTES

•The Kilopower reactors will come in a variety of

sizes able to produce from one to 10 kilowatts

of electrical power, continuously for 10 years or

more

•The fission reactor uses Uranium-235 to generate

heat that is carried to the Stirling converters via

passive sodium heat pipes.

HOW IT WILL WORK

• Primary coolant - liquid sodium (Kilopower)

• Almost all currently operating nuclear power plants are light

water reactors using ordinary water under high pressure as

coolant and neutron moderator.

• Heavy water reactors (CANDU) use deuterium oxide which

has identical properties to ordinary water but much lower

neutron capture, allowing more thorough moderation.

NOTES

•Each ISS solar array wing (often abbreviated "SAW")

consists of two retractable "blankets" of solar cells with

a mast between them. Each wing uses nearly 33,000

solar cells and when fully extended is 35 metres (115 ft)

in length and 12 metres (39 ft) wide