{"id":52081,"date":"2021-07-13T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T17:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-472501"},"modified":"2023-07-26T16:09:31","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T20:09:31","slug":"nasa-announces-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-concept-awards","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-announces-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-concept-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1438\" height=\"809\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?w=1438\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Illustration of a conceptual spacecraft enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg 1438w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?resize=1200,675 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1438px) 100vw, 1438px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Illustration of a spacecraft enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion. <strong>Credits: NASA<\/strong><\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system. The reactor is a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilize high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The contracts, to be awarded through the DOE\u2019s Idaho National Laboratory (INL), are each valued at approximately $5 million. They fund the development of various design strategies for the specified performance requirements that could aid in deep space exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nuclear propulsion provides greater propellant efficiency as compared with chemical rockets. It\u2019s a potential technology for crew and cargo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/spacetech\/nuclear-propulsion-could-help-get-humans-to-mars-faster\">missions to Mars<\/a> and science missions to the outer solar system, enabling faster and more robust missions in many cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy working together, across government and with industry, the United States is advancing space nuclear propulsion,\u201d said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Space Technology Mission Directorate. \u201cThese design contracts are an important step towards tangible reactor hardware that could one day propel new missions and exciting discoveries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Battelle Energy Alliance, the managing and operating contractor for INL, led the <a href=\"https:\/\/sam.gov\/opp\/ede625f6657e4802a4f5ea2e11b0074d\/view\" rel=\"noopener\">request for proposals<\/a>, evaluation, and procurement sponsored by NASA using fiscal year 2021 appropriations. INL will award 12-month contracts to the following companies to each produce a conceptual reactor design that could support future mission needs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>BWX Technologies, Inc. of Lynchburg, Virginia <\/strong>\u2013 The company will partner with Lockheed Martin.<br><\/li><li><strong>General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems of San Diego <\/strong>\u2013 The company will partner with X-energy LLC and Aerojet Rocketdyne.<br><\/li><li><strong>Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies of Seattle <\/strong>\u2013 The company will partner with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, Blue Origin, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy, General Electric Research, Framatome, and Materion.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cINL is excited to enable the development of nuclear propulsion technology for potential use by NASA in future space exploration,\u201d said Dr. Stephen Johnson, national technical director for space nuclear power and director of the Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division at INL. \u201cOur national laboratories, working in partnership with industry, bring unparalleled expertise and capabilities to assist NASA in solving highly complex challenges that come with nuclear power and propulsion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of the contracts\u2019 performance periods, INL will conduct design reviews of the reactor concepts and provide recommendations to NASA.  NASA will utilize the information to establish the basis for future technology design and development efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA is also maturing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/tdm\/fission-surface-power\/index.html\">fission surface power<\/a> system for use on the Moon and Mars. NASA intends to partner with the DOE and INL to release a request for proposals that asks industry for preliminary designs of a 10-kilowatt class system that NASA could demonstrate on the lunar surface. Maturing fission surface power can also help inform nuclear electric propulsion systems, another candidate propulsion technology for distant destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA\u2019s space nuclear technologies portfolio is led and funded by its Space Technology Mission Directorate. The agency\u2019s Technology Demonstration Missions program manages the projects to mature affordable, reliable technologies and demonstrate system capabilities to meet power and propulsion needs for future deep space exploration. The program is based at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about NASA\u2019s investments in space technology, visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/spacetech\">https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/spacetech<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-end-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clare Skelly<br> Headquarters, Washington<br> 202-358-4273<br> <a href=\"mailto:clare.a.skelly@nasa.gov\">clare.a.skelly@nasa.gov<\/a><br> <br>Lance Davis<br> Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.<br> 256-544-0034<br> <a href=\"mailto:lance.d.davis@nasa.gov\">lance.d.davis@nasa.gov<\/a><br><br>Joel Hiller \/ Sarah Neumann<br> Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho<br> 801-597-6030 \/ 208-526-0490<br> <a href=\"mailto:joel.hiller@inl.gov\">joel.hiller@inl.gov<\/a> \/ <a href=\"mailto:sarah.neumann@inl.gov\">sarah.neumann@inl.gov<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system. The reactor is a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilize high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel. The contracts, to be [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":53387,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"21-091","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"RELEASE","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[2864,2867,2788],"news-tags":[12373],"internal-terms":[9508,9505],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-announces-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-concept-awards\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-announces-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-concept-awards\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg"},"articleSection":"NASA Centers & Facilities","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NASA"}],"creator":["NASA"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Missions","Technology Demonstration","Marshall Space Flight Center","NASA Headquarters"],"dateCreated":"2021-07-13T17:53:00Z","datePublished":"2021-07-13T17:53:00Z","dateModified":"2023-07-26T20:09:31Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-announces-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-concept-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2021-07-13T17:53:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Missions,Technology Demonstration,Marshall Space Flight Center,NASA Headquarters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"NASA\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":4,"featured_image":{"id":53387,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept.jpeg","title":"nuclear_thermal_propulsion-concept","alt":"Illustration of a conceptual spacecraft enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion.","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/52081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/52081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":366535,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/52081\/revisions\/366535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52081"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=52081"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=52081"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=52081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}