Project Pele
Project Pele is a project of the US Department of Defense to build a deployable nuclear power reactor[1] for use in United States Armed Forces remote operating bases.
In 2020 the project was listed as relevant to lunar and Mars missions.[2]: 15 presumably for surface operations rather than rocket propulsion.
Initial contracts
On 9 March 2020, the Department awarded three development contracts,[3] to:
- BWX Technologies, of Virginia, for $13.5 million;
- Westinghouse Government Services of Washington, D.C. for $11.95 million; and
- X-energy of Maryland, for $14.3 million.[3]
The two-year engineering design competition is for a small nuclear micro-reactor in the 1-5 megawatt (MWe) power range.[1]
Development
When the three designs are matured, in about 2022, one will be selected to be built as a prototype.
The envisaged reactor is intended to be deployable by road, rail, aircraft, or sea. It will be capable of quickly being brought on load, and be inherently safe.
The project may not proceed past developed design, or prototyping, if the design is not achievable.
See also
- Akademik Lomonosov, a Russian floating power plant with two 32 MWe reactors
- Army Nuclear Power Program, a similar US project in the 1960's
References
- Pentagon awards contracts to design mobile nuclear reactor Aaron Mehta, DefenseNews, 2020-03-09
- A New Era for Deep Space Exploration and Development July 2020
- DOD Awards Contracts for Development of a Mobile Microreactor, media release, US Department of Defense, 2020-03-09