Close-up observations of Pluto would be impossible without the use of generators that rely on cancer-causing plutonium to produce electricity and heat for New Horizons' instrumentation. Pluto is much ...

Do you remember the scene in “Back to the Future” where the mad scientist, Dr. Emmett Brown, explains to Marty McFly that his DeLorean time machine runs on plutonium? That it needs plutonium for “a ...

WASHINGTON — While NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) have restarted production of a plutonium isotope used to power some space missions, a new report warns of challenges that could threaten its ...

British Energy, the nuclear electricity generator, yesterday called for an immediate moratorium on the reprocessing of spent fuel at Sellafield, warning that otherwise the UK would be left with an ...

In the race to explore deep space, NASA is betting on a new kind of nuclear fuel. For over 60 years, the world’s leading space agency has relied on radioisotope power systems (RPS) to deliver steady, ...