NASA has selected the contractors to develop the follow-up project for their Kilopower reactor - by AndyTomaswick
UT video describing KRUSTY, the predecessor experiment to the current development effort.
The RFP was initially released in November, with proposals due in March. Now the awardees, each of whom will have $5 million to work with, will have 12 months to work on their initial design concepts for a 40 kW fission reactor that can operate on the lunar surface for at least ten years. The companies don’t have to start from scratch, though – they can leverage a former NASA project that ended in 2018 that aimed to create a reactor that could survive on the Moon. Known as the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology, it was mantled with the humorous nickname of KRUSTY.
KRUSTY, which operated in collaboration with the National Nuclear Safety Administration, used a Stirling engine rather than the typical water-based heat engine most nuclear power plants are designed around. Using a Sterling engine, which relies on gas rather than heavier liquid, is one way to save weight and solve some energy problems that would plague liquid-based heat engines.There’s still a long way to go before any fission reaction takes place on the Moon, though.
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