NASA's Need for Plutonium Gets Airing on National Public Radio As Conferees Prepare to Meet
National Public Radio ran a story this morning about NASA’s need for plutonium-238 for its robotic deep space and some lunar surface missions. As reported earlier on SpacePolicyOnline.com, the Obama Administration requested $30 million in the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) FY2010 budget to restart production of this fuel.
The Senate zeroed the request and the House cut it by $20 million. House and Senate negotiators are scheduled to meet tomorrow (September 29) at 6:15 pm to negotiate a conference agreement on the legislation (H.R. 3183). The National Research Council issued a report on the plutonium-238 situation earlier this year calling for “immediate action” to restart plutonium production.
User Comments
SpacePolicyOnline.com has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate. We do not post comments that include links to other websites since we have no control over that content nor can we verify the security of such links.