House SS&T Hearing on Production of Plutonium-238 for NASA Missions, October 2017

The Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a hearing on October 4, 2017 on Powering Exploration: An Update on Radioisotope Production and Lessons Learned from Cassini.  The hearing was based on a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that identified issues affecting the relationship between NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) on the production of  plutonium-238 (Pu-238) for use on NASA missions.  DOE manages the nation’s nuclear stockpile and produces Pu-238, the fuel for radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs) that provide electricity and heat for NASA planetary exploration missions that travel too far from the Sun to rely on solar power or land on surfaces where sunlight is not always available.  Witnesses were:

• Mr. David Schurr, deputy director, Planetary Sciences Division, NASA
• Ms. Tracey Bishop, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear infrastructure programs, Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy
• Dr. Ralph McNutt, Jr., chief scientist for space science in the space exploration sector, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
• Ms. Shelby Oakley, director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability Office (GAO)

SpacePolicyOnline.com published a brief synopsis of the GAO report and the hearing on October 4, 2017.