Nucular
Today I demonstrate my political activeness by replying to an article...
ARTICLE: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/063005_empire_strikes.shtml
My response: In regards to Michael Kane's article "The Empire Strikes First Space and World War III" It was a relatively interesting read, yet I do not share your opinion on Project Prometheus. Prometheus is by no means a mission designed for nuclear weaponry. The goal of Prometheus is to develop nuclear-powered space vessels to travel further and faster into the reaches of space, specifically Jupiter. Jupiter has 1/10th the amount of solar radiation compared to the Earth, and this type of engine (though slightly more dangerous) is necessary for large-scale exploration that the Prometheus vision will attempt. You appear to have some negative feelings on nuclear-space reactors, evinced by "If such a rocket were to explode as the shuttle Columbia did, the casualties, injuries and radioactive poisoning of civilians would be catastrophic." If you are thinking that the scale is close to the tragic disaster of Chernobyl, I hope to relieve your distress.
The amount of radioactive material that would be on board a nuclear space vessel would be measured in grams. Chernobyl released kilograms and kilograms of radioactive fuel. As you can see, the scale of the Chernobyl disaster is at least one thousand times greater than anything nuclear-space reactors could dish out. Given that, it is even more assurance to know that previous space vessels containing radioactive isotopes have strong, protective capsules to prevent leakage in case such a disaster occurs. This capsule has been tested and can hold its dangerous cargo relatively well. In the few cases where it has leaked, the small amount of fuel is spread so far that there is no longer any real risk associated with the event. This is because the amount of radiation the fuel exposes per area of distance is insignificant to normal background radiation.
We're exposed to background radiation from everything daily. You'll get a higher dose of radiation standing next to a brick wall than a power plant. Coal plants can and do emit more radioactive isotopes into the air than nuclear power plants (coal is naturally laced with uranium). Cigarettes can be considered highly radioactive from absorbing dangerous amounts of uranium from fertilizers (90% of lung cancer is shown to be caused by Polonium found in cigarettes).
Science has given us a possibility of exploring space with a power we could have never had through chemical or solar energy. "If you like imagery, imagine a Coke can filled to the brim with U02 (uranium dioxide) then imagine the Shuttle external tank placed beside it [,] the energy contained in Shuttle tank still would fall short fifty times; short of the energy contained in the small U02 Coke can." (http://nuclearspace.com/A_NASA_PEIS_promFIN.htm).
Simply put, Man will not get off this planet without the power of nuclear reactors. It's good to know that NASA is working in conjunction with the US Navy (perfect record holders with their nuclear submarines) to help design these reactors. I agree that nuclear weapons are incredibly dangerous, even moreso in space, but the mission statement of Prometheus is something more promising than anything we have ever seen, save for fusion power. I hope this has given you a chance to view the nuclear issue at a different perspective. If you wish to acquire more information, please visit www.nuclearspace.com.
Sincerely, David, WA