
ORNL achieves milestone with plutonium-238 sample - aurhum
https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-achieves-milestone-plutonium-238-sample
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hoorayimhelping
Just for clarification, this is fuel for RTGs which power spacecraft that are
far away from the sun, not fuel for spacecraft propulsion.

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chriskanan
This is great news. My understanding from when I worked at JPL was thst NASA
only had enough plutonium for about one more large RTG for the Mars 2020
mission (to power Curiosity 2.0). While RTGs are essential for deep space
missions, they are also useful for closer destinations.

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peter303
Two of the NASA missions are pretty much spoken for 1) Mars Science Lander 2
in 2020 2) Mission to Europa

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irixusr
Hate to be a negative nancy...

..But we're making a fuss about restarting the production of something we'd
already mastered, and we first made in 1941?

I'll be more interested when an American commercial breeder reactor comes
online.

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mikeash
Production was suspended for 30 years. Resumption seems pretty noteworthy.
Nobody is claiming this is some sort of first, and if it doesn't interest you,
then move on. If you're interested in deep space probes then this is pretty
important. If not, it's not.

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dang
Url changed from [http://www.livescience.com/53227-plutonium-238-created-
for-s...](http://www.livescience.com/53227-plutonium-238-created-for-space-
fuel.html), which is cribbed from this press release. Like most of the science
PR mills, that one does not link to its sources.

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ringshall
This is a better link than the current one in the headline:

[https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-achieves-milestone-
plutonium-...](https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-achieves-milestone-
plutonium-238-sample)

It's more recent (Dec 22nd, 2015) and discusses a new achievement: first
production of Pu-238 in the USA in 30 years.

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dang
Oh indeed, that's the one we want. Thanks! Changed from
[https://www.ornl.gov/news/making-fuel-exploring-
space-0](https://www.ornl.gov/news/making-fuel-exploring-space-0).

