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I haven't seen any major spacefaring nation opposed to this - the Soviets and Americans both put reactors in orbit during the Cold War, and only the Soviet ones
by azernik 6y ago
I haven't seen any major spacefaring nation opposed to this - the Soviets and Americans both put reactors in orbit during the Cold War, and only the Soviet ones caused safety problems.
- GekkePrutser 6y agoNot entirely true, SNAP-10A is still in orbit and has suffered some degradation (parts coming off), that may have led to radioactive release. However the Soviets crashed several RORSAT reactors actually on earth, which is indeed much worse (and many cores are still up there in parking orbits)
- azernik 6y agoPlus the RORSATs leaked coolant all over the place, which is both a radioactivity and debris hazard. But in any case, these are all problems that are both less likely with new designs (e.g. kilopower uses sealed heat pipes with no moving parts for coolant), and less of a concern when the reactors are either in interplanetary/cislunar space or are nice and buried.