ORNL is currently capable of producing up to 700 grams of Pu-238 heat source material each year at its High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). Since 2015, the test reactor has produced nearly 1 kilogram of heat source material. The additional support of ATR is expected to help meet NASA’s target of 1.5 kilograms per year by 2026.
One of the RPS Program’s primary objectives is to develop new technologies that advance NASA’s capability to meet its science goals by developing more efficient RPS by reducing cost, reducing Pu-238 quantity requirements per RPS, reducing RPS mass and size, and increasing RPS power output and duration. However, NASA has not produced a viable new RPS technology since the Program began in 2010 despite an average investment of $40 million per year. We also found that NASA lacks a clear resource allocation strategy to ensure completion of its new technology development projects. In addition, the Program’s optimistic assumptions about the maturity of nuclear power technologies and its lack of formal assessments of technology readiness, coupled with associated technology maturation risks, contributed to the termination of two technology development projects—the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator and Enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator—and portend cost and schedule challenges for current and future RPS developments. The cancellation of these technology development projects prior to substantive results disincentivizes the already limited number of contractors remaining in the RPS industry, leading to increased costs and risks to future space-based nuclear power systems developments. But despite these challenges, the Program has inappropriately tailored its management approach and elected not to implement required flight project management tools from NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 7120.5F, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements, for its two current technology development efforts—the Next-Gen Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (Next-Gen RTG) and Dynamic Radioisotope Power System (DRPS).
This seems like a relevant (old) thread:NASA OIG has released a report on NASA’s Management of Its Radioisotope Power Systems Program.QuoteOne of the RPS Program’s primary objectives is to develop new technologies that advance NASA’s capability to meet its science goals by developing more efficient RPS by reducing cost, reducing Pu-238 quantity requirements per RPS, reducing RPS mass and size, and increasing RPS power output and duration. However, NASA has not produced a viable new RPS technology since the Program began in 2010 despite an average investment of $40 million per year. We also found that NASA lacks a clear resource allocation strategy to ensure completion of its new technology development projects. In addition, the Program’s optimistic assumptions about the maturity of nuclear power technologies and its lack of formal assessments of technology readiness, coupled with associated technology maturation risks, contributed to the termination of two technology development projects—the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator and Enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator—and portend cost and schedule challenges for current and future RPS developments. The cancellation of these technology development projects prior to substantive results disincentivizes the already limited number of contractors remaining in the RPS industry, leading to increased costs and risks to future space-based nuclear power systems developments. But despite these challenges, the Program has inappropriately tailored its management approach and elected not to implement required flight project management tools from NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 7120.5F, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements, for its two current technology development efforts—the Next-Gen Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (Next-Gen RTG) and Dynamic Radioisotope Power System (DRPS).https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/NASA/IG-23-010.pdf