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Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) has delivered uranium nitride coated uranium oxycarbide tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel to NASA's Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion programme. The company says this demonstrates the "flexibility, precision and value" of its Pilot Fuel Manufacturing Facility (PFM).

Date: Thursday, 15 June 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/USNC-delivers-TRISO-particle-fuel-to-NASA

Company chosen to head EU-backed Pulsar consortium Tractebel will research dynamic radioisotope power systems powered by plutonium 238. Courtesy Tractabel. Belgium-based engineering company Tractebel has been selected to lead the Pulsar consortium, a research and engineering project to develop nuclear technology to power space missions.

The project is funded by the European commission through the Euratom Research and Training Programme, a complementary funding programme to Horizon Europe covering nuclear research and innovation. The Euratom programme has a budget of €1.38bn for the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025.

Tractebel will research dynamic radioisotope power systems (RPSs) powered by plutonium 238 (Pu-238) for space applications. RPSs are essential for supplying spacecraft and astronauts with electricity and heat where the sun does not provide enough energy. They use heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 (Pu-238) to produce electricity.

Date: Saturday, 09 July 2022
Original article: nucnet.org/news/tractebel-to-research-radioisotope-power-systems-powered-by-plutonium-7-5-2022

Following a recent contract awarded by the European Space Agency (ESA), Belgium’s Tractebel has been selected to head the consortium of PULSAR, a research and innovation project funded by the European Commission to develop nuclear technology to power space missions. 

Date: Friday, 24 June 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newstractebel-to-lead-european-space-research-on-radioisotope-power-systems-9797730

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a contract to Belgian company Tractebel to evaluate the possibility of producing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) for use in space exploration. Separately, US company X-energy, working as part of a General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) team, is to develop key fuel fabrication processes in support of a first-of-a-kind rocket powered by nuclear thermal propulsion under a contract awarded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Date: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/European-and-US-nuclear-companies-contribute-to-sp

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