Bangor University is located in north Wales in the U.K. Recently, researchers at the University have been working on small nuclear fuel cells that could be used to sustain human explorers on the Moon for long periods of time. The team has been collaborating with Rolls Royce to develop a source of energy that could sustain long stays on the Moon.
Tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuel is a type of micro-particle fuel. The particles consist of a kernel fuel of uranium oxidex (sometimes uranium carbide or uranium carbon oxide) which has been coated with four layers of three isotropic materials deposited through fluidized chemical vapor deposition. The four layers of deposited material create a porous layer of carbon that absorbs fission product recoils, followed by a dense inner layer of protective pyrolytic carbon (PyC). A layer of ceramic SiC retains fission products at elevated temperatures and provides more structural integrity. The final outer layer of the particle is a dense layer PyC.
Using TRISO particles, the researchers designed Trisofuel, a small nuclear cell that could power the RR micro nuclear generator.
The generator is a portable device the size of a small car. It is small enough to be put on a rocket and launched into space. Trisofuel has now been sent to the team for further testing.
Nuclear power has the potential to dramatically increase the duration of future Moon missions as well as their scientific value because it can provide the energy necessary to support systems for communication, life support and scientific experiments.
However, power sources have been especially difficult to transport to space. RR’s vision of a relatively small and lightweight nuclear micro-reactor could be the key to enabling continuous power, regardless of location, available sunlight and other environmental conditions.
Middleburgh told the BBC that the research was a challenge but a fun one. He went on to say, “On the Moon and on planetary bodies that have day and night, we can no longer rely on the Sun for energy and therefore must design systems such as the small micro-reactor to sustain life. Nuclear power is the only way we currently have to provide the power for that length of space travel. The fuel must be extremely robust and survive the forces of launch, and then be dependable for many years.”
Nuclear space power is anticipated to generate new skilled jobs across the U.K. to support the growing U.K. space economy, said to be worth about twenty billion dollars.
Interest in the Moon’s resources and its potential use as a base for space explorations has been growing over the past few years. Last month, India became the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on Moon following its seventy million dollars Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landeing in a previously unexplored region of the Moon.
The Indian landing took place just a few days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon on its way to the same destination. Last year, NASA successfully launched its Artemis spacecraft as part of a mission to take humans back to the Moon. NASA has also revealed its hopes of landing astronauts on Mars sometime in the 2030s as part of its Moon to Mars program.