Nukewatch

Working for a nuclear-free future since 1979

  • Issues
    • Weekly Column
    • Counterfeit Reactor Parts
    • Depleted Uranium
    • Direct Action
    • Lake Superior Barrels
    • Environmental Justice
    • Nuclear Power
      • Chernobyl
      • Fukushima
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • On The Bright Side
    • Radiation Exposure
    • Radioactive Waste
    • Renewable Energy
    • Uranium Mining
    • US Bombs Out of Germany
  • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archives
  • Resources
    • Nuclear Heartland Book
    • Fact Sheets
    • Reports, Studies & Publications
      • The New Nuclear Weapons: $1.74 Trillion for H-bomb Profiteers and Fake Cleanups
      • Nuclear Power: Dead In the Water It Poisoned
      • Thorium Fuel’s Advantages as Mythical as Thor
      • Greenpeace on Fukushima 2016
      • Drinking Water at Risk: Toxic Military Wastes Haunt Lake Superior
    • Nukewatch in the News
    • Links
    • Videos
  • About
    • About Nukewatch
    • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
    • Action Alerts!
    • Calendar
    • Workshops
  • Donate

March 29, 2021 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Reactors in Space

Nukewatch Quarterly Spring 2021
By Christine Manwiller

Hidden beneath the glamour of outer space travel lurks the very real threat of potential nuclear disaster. In two recent articles, Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at State University of New York, calls attention to the use of plutonium batteries in NASA’s deep-space missions. The Mars rover Perseverance is powered by 10.6 pounds of plutonium-238, which is 280 times more radioactive than the plutonium-239 used in nuclear weapons. The rover’s tiny need of electricity (about 100 watts) could have been produced with solar panels, a safe option that was sidelined by the influence of the nuclear industry, according to Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. NASA acknowledged that the Atlas V rocket carrying Perseverance had a chance of exploding on take-off, or burning up in Earth’s atmosphere, spreading the deadly plutonium across Florida or the world.

Meanwhile, a February report from the National Academy of Sciences describes a partnership between NASA and the whole Pentagon, advocating the use of reactors in space citing “military advantages.” The reactor industry drives this partnership, seeing space as a lucrative market. These plans proceed in spite of past disasters caused by faulty rockets and failed satellites, including the US Transit 5BN-3 that burned up in the atmosphere in 1964, dispersing plutonium which was later linked to increases in lung cancer. The unnecessary use of plutonium batteries and perhaps even reactors by NASA creates risks for everyone, but as Grossman says, “it’s going to take enormous grassroots action — and efforts by those in public office — to stop it.”

—K. Grossman, “Plutonium, Perseverance and the Spellbound Press,” The Free Press, Feb. 24; and “Nuclear Rockets to Mars?,” CounterPunch.org, Feb. 16, 2021

Filed Under: Environment, Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Power, Quarterly Newsletter, Radiation Exposure

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Donate

Facebook

Categories

  • B61 Bombs in Europe
  • Chernobyl
  • Counterfeit Reactor Parts
  • Depleted Uranium
  • Direct Action
  • Environment
  • Environmental Justice
  • Fukushima
  • Lake Superior Barrels
  • Military Spending
  • Newsletter Archives
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Power
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Office News
  • On The Bright Side
  • Photo Gallery
  • Quarterly Newsletter
  • Radiation Exposure
  • Radioactive Waste
  • Renewable Energy
  • Sulfide Mining
  • Through the Prism of Nonviolence
  • Uncategorized
  • Uranium Mining
  • US Bombs Out of Germany
  • War
  • Weekly Column

Contact Us

(715) 472-4185
nukewatch1@lakeland.ws

Address:
740A Round Lake Road
Luck, Wisconsin 54853
USA

Donate To Nukewatch

News & Information on Nuclear Weapons,
Power, Waste & Nonviolent Resistance

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

© 2023 · Nukewatch