karn (01/06/83)
As most of you have probably already heard, a Soviet spy satellite, Cosmos 1402, is uncontrollable and likely to re-enter within the month. Unfortunately, this spacecraft contains a nuclear power source with about 100 pounds of enriched uranium. An earlier satellite of similiar design, Cosmos 954, re-entered accidentally several years ago in northern Canada. By interesting coincidence, Cosmos 1402 is the last object listed in my Situation Report. It was only launched on 30 August 1982. It carries catalog number 13441, in case anybody wants to order orbit bulletins from NASA (this bulletin service was mentioned in the AP article, in case you've seen it). The Soviets aren't the only ones to fly spacecraft with nuclear materials: the Apollo ALSEPs (lunar surface science experiments), Voyager, and Viking were a few US examples. But those generators were designed to withstand launch disasters and accidental re-entry. For example, there is a plutonium generator, probably still intact, sitting on the floor of the Pacific from the Apollo 13 lunar module. Just in case somebody wants to go and get it! Phil Karn
hamilton (01/10/83)
#R:eagle:-70700:uicsovax:12600007:000:2658
uicsovax!hamilton Jan 10 09:44:00 1983
don't give the russians all the credit. an item from the 7 Jan 83 Science:
"The Defense Dept's plan to build a new generation of compact nuclear
reactors to power laser battle stations and other military satellites
[Science, 17 Dec 81, p1199] has an ominous history. In 1964, a US nuclear-
powered satellite burned on reentry and contaminated the atmosphere with
plutonium. Unlike the breakup of a Soviet nuclear satellite over Canada in
1978, the US accident received almost no publicity at the time....
The incident began on 21 Apr 64 when a Transit navigational satellite
was launched from Vandenburg AFB in California. On board was a power supply
known as SNAP-9A, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator that was fueled with
about 1 kilogram of Pu-238. The rocket's engines failed in mid-flight, and
the satellite and its lethal payload came crashing back into the atmosphere
over the Indian Ocean.
...
In 1964, search teams using sophisticated air sampling techniques combed the
crash site and subsequently decided the satellite had completely burned up
during reentry and that the plutonium had dispersed as a fine dust in the
atmosphere [Science, 10 Nov 67, p769]. Over the years, the plutonium slowly
worked its way down to the surface of the earth, mostly in the Southern
Hemisphere. By 1970 about 95% of the SNAP plutonium had settled out of the
atmosphere. The contamination was not unprecedented but it was quite large.
During the days of atmospheric nuclear testing, some plutonium had spread
throughout the atmosphere. In contrast, the US satellite fiasco was estimated
to have resulted in a three-fold increase of Pu-238 contamination [Nature,
16 Feb 73].
...
After the SNAP-9A accident, two other misfortunes befell the US space
nuclear power program. In neither case was plutonium released into the
atmosphere. The first occurred in May 1968 when a Nimbus weather satellite
failed to achieve orbit and plunged into the Santa Barbara Channel off
California. Its plutonium power pack, known as SNAP-19, was recovered intact.
The final accident occurred in Apr 1970 when the Apollo 13 moon-landing mission
was aborted because of an onboard fire. The command module and the three
astronauts were successfully picked up. The lunar lander, however, plunged to
the floor of the Pacific Ocean and could not be found. It is estimated that
its plutonium fuel pack, known as SNAP-27, will remain intact for about 860
years. -- William J. Broad"
(parenthetically, wjb is not my favorite science writer; fortunately,
the new york times is taking him...)
wayne ({decvax,ucbvax,harpo}!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsovax!)hamilton