Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The 2020s will be a decisive decade for in-space nuclear power. So argues Dr. Bhavya Lal, whose new report reframes the conversation around a simple idea: power, not propulsion, is nuclear's most immediate and disruptive capability. Power is what enables humans to stay and build on distant locales; without an abundance of it, she warns, we will never be more than visitors. But in an era of super heavy-lift capability, does this vision still require a nuclear solution, or can we simply brute-force our future in space with cheaper alternatives?
Discover more at: planetary.org/planetary-radio/bhavya-lal-space-nuclear-power
See omnystudio.com/listener (omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
The 2020s will be a decisive decade for in-space nuclear power. So argues Dr. Bhavya Lal, whose new report reframes the conversation around a simple idea: power, not propulsion, is nuclear's most immediate and disruptive capability. Power is what enables humans to stay and build on distant locales; without an abundance of it, she warns, we will never be more than visitors. But in an era of super heavy-lift capability, does this vision still require a nuclear solution, or can we simply brute-force our future in space with cheaper alternatives?
Discover more at: planetary.org/planetary-radio/bhavya-lal-space-nuclear-power
See omnystudio.com/listener (omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
