As the head of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko is one of the first people you'd expect to play the cheerleader for nuclear power. What's unusual about Kirienko, though, is what he wants to use nuclear power for:
Powering spaceships.
In a recent address to the Federation Council (Russia's Senate), former Prime Minister-turned-nuke-exec Kirienko proposed an ambitious project to cut the time needed to travel to Mars by 92%. For some years, Rosatom has been working on the development of a megawatt-class "thermonuclear battery" for use in powering spaceships. Declared the former PM: "Installing a nuclear engine will allow [a spacecraft] to fly to Mars in a month and a half and to come back."
What's more, the spacecraft could make course changes en route if necessary, and even turn around and fly back to Earth, because with nuclear power, "the spacecraft would retain the ability to maneuver."
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