House Could Vote on Restoring Pu-238 Funds Today
About 3:00 this afternoon, the House resumed debate on the FY2012 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill (H.R. 2354). One amendment that may come up today would restore funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) to restart production of plutonium-238 (Pu-238), which NASA needs for some of its planetary exploration spacecraft.
Bill Adkins, a principal at the Center for Strategic Space Studies (CS3), tweeted earlier today that a vote is expected on an amendment by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to restore the $15 million cut by the House Appropriations Committee for Pu-238 production. The committee feels that NASA should pay all the costs associated with that activity instead of splitting the costs between the two agencies as the Obama Administration proposes.
Schiff represents Pasadena, CA, home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that builds many of NASA’s planetary exploration spacecraft. A shortage of Pu-238 for NASA’s probes that travel too far from the Sun or remain on lunar or planetary surfaces for too long to rely on solar energy has been imminent for some time. A 2009 National Research Council report called for immediate action, but Congress has denied the Administration’s request for DOE funding for the past two years. It appears ready to do so again.
DOE is the only government agency allowed to possess nuclear material and has built all of NASA’s nuclear power sources in the past.
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