American Nuclear Society
Home

Home / Publications / Journals / Nuclear Technology / Volume 207 / Number 6

Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion at USNC-Tech

Paolo Venneri, Michael Eades

Nuclear Technology / Volume 207 / Number 6 / June 2021 / Pages 876-881

Technical Summary / dx.doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1895662

Received:January 30, 2021
Accepted:February 23, 2021
Published:May 28, 2021

USNC-Technologies (USNC-Tech) is an advanced nuclear company focused on developing space nuclear power and propulsion systems to enable high-impact science missions and the growth of a self-sustaining in-space economy. As a subsidiary of Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), USNC-Tech has leveraged the technologies and experience gains from the design, licensing, and deployment of terrestrial gas-cooled reactors for these space systems. The result is a family of reactor concepts and designs with shared technology bases able to meet near-term and long-term customer needs in the space arena. Key examples include the Pylon surface fission power reactor, the Ready 2 Demonstrate Technology On Orbit (R2DTOO) nuclear thermal propulsion reactor, and the chargeable atomic battery radioisotope heat source.