National Security Cuts Into NASA's Plutonium

cleveland61 writes "Space.com is reporting that an "undisclosed national security agency" is being assigned 7 Kg of NASA's 16 Kg supply of Pu 238. With a half life of 90 years Pu 238 is used mainly used in cases where batteries won't do here on earth. (Pacemakers, deep sea diving suits,etc.) It also provided the fuel for the Cassini Probe. My question is; Who is getting it and what are they using it for? Please tell me its Doc Brown looking for his 1.21 jigawatts!"

Think small

[Anonymous Coward]

That's quite a bit of energy in that there chunk.

Think small. This isn't likely being used to make bombs or what have you. Materials with a much shorter half life are used for that.

This is more likely for spying equipment.

The question is - where do we suddenly need thousands of covert transmitters?

two answers

[Apreche]

the easy answer is they are making a few nukes.

the answer that took a little thought is that indeed the NSA needs plutonium to make an unbeatable UPS for its large powerful computer systems. This way the will never have a power out, meaning they can spy on everyone 24/7 365.

Same thing

[benh57]

The undisclosed agency is likely using it for the same thing NASA does - RTGs to power satellites. RTGs could help power secret spy sats just as well as science sats. They provide quite a lot of power and with them you don't need the solar arrays.

Undersea Equipment

[Detritus]

I've read that RTGs have been used for undersea equipment, like the combination line tap/recorder systems that the NSA has been reported to use on undersea communication cables.

Re:Same thing

[Henry V .009]

I agree. And without the solar panels, these satellites will be mostly invisible until they start transmitting. So you have a back-up communications or spy array just in case China starts taking pot-shots at our birds with a laser.

Re:Same thing

[CTalkobt]

Actually what makes the parent post intriguing is this.

Currently the US has a set of Satillites that can form a communications relay and then beam messages to the ground.

Suppose we have some black birds ( Satillites ) that operate solely on Nuclear Power with passive ( eg visual / thermal etc ) pickup of information / images. Now, let's broadcast the data to the communications relay and send it down encrypted.

Since the birds doing the oberservation are "dark" - there only encryptions being laterally to earth's orbit their flight paths wouldn't be known.

Hmm..... *looks up in the sky anxiously*