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  • 3D printing may allow NASA to increase the amount of plutonium availabl

    From RichA@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 6 01:33:16 2022
    3D sintering will allow custom tailoring of surface areas of targets in reactors which will increase the amount of plutonium 238 available for RTG production for spacecraft / probes. The method is now being used to improve production of medical isotopes.

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  • From Chris L Peterson@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 6 08:04:29 2022
    On Tue, 6 Dec 2022 01:33:16 -0800 (PST), RichA <rander3128@gmail.com>
    wrote:

    3D sintering will allow custom tailoring of surface areas of targets in reactors which will increase the amount of plutonium 238 available for RTG production for spacecraft / probes. The method is now being used to improve production of medical
    isotopes.

    That's cool, although RTGs are not appropriate for powering the vast
    majority of space probes, so it's unclear how much value this will be
    in that respect.

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