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<DIV>Amara said:</DIV>
<DIV>> <BR>> Please tell NASA where they are located, because presently they have <BR>> enough only for the RTGS of about one more outer solar system mission. <BR>> <BR>> http://www.space.com/news/080306-nasa-plutonium-shortage-fin.html <BR>> <BR>> NASA is planning to go around to the DOE centers collecting what they <BR>> can find. Russia is selling NASA some, selling the Indians some, then <BR>> the Russians say they have no more (uh huh ;-) ). <BR>> <BR>> Presently, a highly possible result of the end of the Cold War is that <BR>> the robotic exploration of the outer solar system exploration might be <BR>> ended (or at least slowed down) as well. <BR>> <BR>My understanding is that the nuclear warheads only have a certain shelf life before the </DIV>
<DIV>half-life of the nuclear warheads becomes degraded enough that it has to be replaced.</DIV>
<DIV>Which means that all nuclear powers must still keep multiple nuclear enrichment</DIV>
<DIV>facilites online to replenish their allowed stockpile under the nuclear treaties.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>These are enrichment centers are located on DOE reservations and are probably </DIV>
<DIV>limited and monitored by nuclear proliferation treaties as to how much they produce.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But there is no reason that we could not go to the Russian's and other countries we have </DIV>
<DIV>treaties with and ask them to send monitors and authorize the increased production for </DIV>
<DIV>specific solar missions. The production capacity is already there.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>NASA probably also does not have access to DOD inventories. These inventories though</DIV>
<DIV>are the one's limited by treaties. The reason we buy as much Russion material as possible is</DIV>
<DIV>to keep it off of the black market. A rogue nuke driven into the country's capital on the back of a pickup </DIV>
<DIV>truck is an attack for which there is no defense.</DIV></body></html>