NASA Revives Plan to Put Nuclear Reactors on Mars
I looked into some numbers on this, comparing theoretical costs of nuclear power with a solar PV solution on Mars.<p>Kilopower (NASA's research project for a Martian nuclear fission reactor, from the article): 7,200 kg for 40 kW. [1]<p>ISS solar arrays: 14,515 kg for ~100 kW in Earth orbit. [2] If we assume 40-50% Earth solar insolation on Martian surface, the ISS PV array probably isn't far off 40 kW output on Mars<p>Conclusions:<p>Nuclear reactor would have approx. 50% launch weight. SpaceX estimate $45/kg payload with a Falcon Heavy, so about $324K for Kilopower or ~$600K for the ISS arrays.<p>The build cost of the ISS arrays was around $300 million (space PV is way more expensive than terrestrial). The development and test costs of Kilopower is around $15 million; build cost of final units is unknown.<p>You would have to automate and/or remotely control all of the nuclear power plant operations. Dust storms would be a challenge to a PV solution, though not insurmountable.<p>They actually look very comparable. Nuclear has an edge due to it weighing half as much as the equivalent PV generation system. I think there is definitely value to a simpler system that's more decentralized... but that's harder to quantify.<p>Edit: people noted I forgot to factor in batteries. 40 kW = 480 kWh per 12 hours. 1 Tesla PowerPack = 220 kWh @ 50 kW. Let's assume a worst case that the base needs the same electrical power during the night as it does in the day, so we need around 5 PowerPacks to get us through each night. 1 PowerPack weighs 1,622 kg, 5 = 8,110 kg. Wow, we need another Falcon Heavy trip just to bring us enough batteries for 1 night! Let's not mention those dust storms that can last for a month or so...<p>Now nuclear looks much better... and that has its own complexities. Colonising Mars is going to be very hard. :)<p>[1] <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160012354.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/201600...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/solar_arrays.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/element...</a>