Project Prometheus, the BBC takes a look

[nacnud]

<b>BBC Radio 4 takes a look at the US project for nuclear rockets in Project Prometheus</b><br /><br /><font color="yellow">Fifty years ago, US nuclear scientists were working on a top secret project to develop a three thousand-ton rocket that would take people to Mars propelled by atomic bombs.<br /><br />Now there's Project Prometheus, a more modest but nevertheless controversial plan to use nuclear power for unmanned missions beyond the earth and eventually to Jupiter and beyond.</font><br /><br />You can listen to the program for the next week from the listen again site or from this real player stream

 

[yurkin]

Thanks<br /><br />BBC did a good job with that, without getting overly technical. I would have preferred a little more on the technical aspects of it but I see why they didn’t. I think in the next decade we are going to see a nuclear ESA mission.<br />

 

[scottb50]

Don't count on it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[shuttle_rtf]

Good to see the BBC getting it about right. They've been one of the largest fallers in journalism over the past 10 years. However, they redeemed themselves with a recent Return to Launch article for the Shuttle (after previously claiming NASA only had one left) and they seem to be getting there with this too.

 

[toymaker]

EU using nuclear technology ? God Forbid ! It's against nature-scream the atheist Greens...

 

[najab]

><i>EU using nuclear technology ? God Forbid ! It's against nature-scream the atheist Greens... </i><p>France currently produces something like 40% of their power in nuclear plants and there are new ones on order. The UK is the World's largest producer and reprocessor of fuel for nuclear reactors. Europeans (generally speaking) aren't afraid of peaceful use of nuclear power.</p>

 

[CalliArcale]

Or unpeaceful. Americans have this strange perception that Europe is pacifist and anti-nuke. But they're really neither. In addition to nuclear power, France has also been performing above-ground nuclear testing, and the reason why they were the third country to acheive satellite launch capability is a direct consequence of their nuclear program -- just as in the US and Russia, their launch vehicles are directly descended from ICBMs.<br /><br />But I'm also skeptical of Europe launching a nuclear-powered spacecraft in the next decade. It has nothing to do with antipathy against nuclear power and everything to do with budget. ESA doesn't have anywhere near the funding that NASA does. On the other hand, their recent string of prominent successes (Mars Express, Huygens, SMART-1) may prompt politicians to fund more ambitious programs. I will try to stay cautiously optimistic. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[holmec]

>Americans have this strange perception that Europe is pacifist and anti-nuke.<<br /><br />Well, that's probably they can't shut up their anti-nuke people.<br /><br />Acctually there is a large number of the population on Europe that is skeptical about nukes because of the cold war. You see they were in between the US and the USSR in the cold war, so that does wear on the brain if you lived in Europe at that time. So the feeling is still there.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#0000ff"><em>"SCE to AUX" - John Aaron, curiosity pays off</em></font></p> </div>

 

[toymaker]

"Americans have this strange perception that Europe is pacifist and anti-nuke. But they're really neither"<br />Greens are very influential-though small they make coalition partners-remember that Germany made their economy dependent on Russia because they decided to abolish ALL nuclear power in their country.

 

[yurkin]

<font color="yellow">Greens are very influential-though small they make coalition partners-remember that Germany made their economy dependent on Russia because they decided to abolish ALL nuclear power in their country</font><br /><br />That’s not entirely accurate.<br />That was a promise of the 1998 coalition party that came into power two years ago. Since then they have backpedaled. No new ones will be built, but the 18 remaining nuclear power plants will maintain operation for the rest of their lifespan. It would be difficult to shut them down since they provide Germany with one third of their total energy.<br /><br /><font color="yellow"> A major poll carried out after the October 1998 election confirmed German public support for nuclear energy. Overall 77% supported the continued use of nuclear energy, while only 13% favoured the immediate closure of nuclear power plants.</font><br /><br />http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf43.htm<br /><br />Huygens was delivered aboard Cassini which had a nuclear power source. Huygens itself had plutonium RTHs (radioisotope heaters.) So one could argue that Europe has already sent a nuclear powered mission.<br /><br /><br />Shuttle_RTF<br /><font color="yellow"> Good to see the BBC getting it about right. They've been one of the largest fallers in journalism over the past 10 years.</font><br />Clearly you need to watch more American news broadcasts. I’m still waiting for Prometheus story from them.<br />

 

[toymaker]

It will be good news if nuclear power would be accepted.From what I have seen the Greens were very fanatic about it.

 

[wvbraun]

"Since then they have backpedaled. No new ones will be built, but the 18 remaining nuclear power plants will maintain operation for the rest of their lifespan."<br /><br />That's not correct. The current plan is to shut down all nuclear plants by 2020, one already was shut down. The Greens have not backpedaled on this.<br />Of course there is the possibility that these plans will change if the Greens are voted out in 2006...

 

[wvbraun]

"France currently produces something like 40% of their power in nuclear plants and there are new ones on order."<br /><br />I thought it was more like 70%.

 

[nacnud]

it is about 70%

 

[najab]

I was going to type 60% but then couldn't remember if it was 60/40 in favour of nuclear or against, so I went with the smaller number. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />