Dr. David Poston, Los Alamos National Laboratory talks about the simple and safe NASA Kilopower Project.
KRUSTY showed that developing a small reactor is not inherently expensive.
– A new reactor concept was designed, fabricated and tested for less than $20M.
* KRUSTY demonstrated a space reactor concept that can be used for near-term space science and exploration.
KRUSTY/Kilopower is the first step towards truly astounding space fission capabilities.
The early stage system can reach 10,000 watts and weigh 1500 kilograms. This is almost 7 watts per kilogram.
They are working on a 2 Megawatt electrical power heat pipe nuclear reactor that would weigh 35-45 tons.
2 megawatt heatpipe reactor
