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The text of a speech delivered by World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on 8 December, considering the legacy of US President Dwight D Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace speech 70 years ago.

Date: Friday, 15 December 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-The-legacy-of-Eisenhower-s-Atoms-for-Pea

The shipment earlier this year of heat source plutonium-238 from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to its Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) represents a critical step toward fuelling planned space missions with radioisotope power systems, NASA had said.

Date: Thursday, 30 November 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-moves-closer-to-use-of-plutonium-238-to-power-space-missions-11335593

France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie Atomique et aux énergies Alternatives) is to conduct two feasibility studies on nuclear propulsion in space for the European Space Agency (ESA). CEA says these “could bring significant benefits, responding to Europe's concern to ensure long-duration missions in space”. CEA is therefore undertaking two studies – the Alumni project and RocketRoll. These one-year feasibility studies, will be used to develop a roadmap for the possible development of technological bricks and a demonstrator by 2035.

Date: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newscea-to-conduct-nuclear-propulsion-studies-for-the-european-space-agency-10967873

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is conducting two feasibility studies on nuclear propulsion for the European Space Agency, which could pave the way for missions to Mars and beyond.

Date: Friday, 23 June 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/CEA-feasibility-studies-on-nuclear-propulsion-in-s

UK-based Pulsar Fusion has entered into a partnership with US Princeton Satellite Systems (PSS) to apply machine learning to study data from the Princeton field-reverse configuration (PFRC-2) reactor. The aim is to advance delivery of practical fusion propelled spacecraft that can make interstellar space travel practical.

Date: Saturday, 17 June 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newstransatlantic-partnership-to-advance-interstellar-fusion-travel-10946500

Bangor University in Wales will develop a nuclear thermal fuel system to support deep space exploration with funding provided by the UK Space Agency. It is one of eight projects receiving a total of GBP1.6 million (USD1.9 million) in funding through the agency's Enabling Space Exploration fund.

Date: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Welsh-university-to-develop-space-nuclear-propulsi

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking proposals for Phases 2 and 3 of its Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme, which aims to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system in orbit in fiscal year 2026.

Date: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-cislunar-rocket-project-proceeds-to-next-stage

Experts at an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) webinar “Atoms for Space: Nuclear Systems for Space Exploration”, agreed that nuclear technology will continue to play a vital role in future space missions.  More than 500 people from 66 countries attended the webinar on 15 and 16 February. Experts from the public and private sectors concluded that humanity is poised to embark on a new age of space travel to Mars, our solar system and beyond as nuclear power and related technologies promise to make interplanetary missions faster, more efficient and economical.  

Date: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiaea-says-nuclear-is-vital-for-space-missions-9503585

A group of six students recently spent nine days living in the Grimsel underground research laboratory in Switzerland in a simulated mission to the Moon. During the mission, the "astronauts" taking part in the Asclepios I project undertook several scientific experiments, the results of which could be applied to future actual space missions.

Date: Friday, 20 August 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Swiss-underground-laboratory-stands-in-as-Moon-bas

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on 13 July it was leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system. The reactor is a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilise high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel.

Date: Friday, 16 July 2021
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnasa-announces-funding-for-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-8898302