ESA CP – General
The ESA is looking to explore with nuclear technology
De Selding 7 (Peter, writer @ Space News,
http://www.space.com/3451-french-government-group-europe-join-2nd-space-race.html) JPG
A French parliamentary group said China’s recent anti-satellite demonstrations, plus Chinese and Indian plans for lunar exploration, are clear signs that a second global space race has begun and that Europe should join it. In a report issued Feb. 7, the French Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices makes a series of proposals, some of them specific, to reinvigorate Europe’s civil and military space policy. Among the 50 proposals: Sanctions should be imposed on any European government that does not give preference to European launch vehicles for its government civil and military satellites. France should begin preparing nuclear-powered satellites to permit deep-space exploration, using expertise at the French Atomic Energy Commission and in French industry. Europe’s heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket should be made capable of launching astronauts within five years. Managers of Europe’s Galileo satellite-navigation project should engage in negotiations with the NATO alliance on how Galileo’s encrypted, government-only signal should be used and protected. France and other European governments should give assistance to companies that propose to develop suborbital flight systems designed to create a space-tourism industry. The parliamentary group views the growing space budgets of the United States, China, India and Russia in particular as confirmation that space remains a realm of strategic competition with multiple military and commercial applications. Europe, they say, is losing ground to these nations and is at risk of becoming a space also-ran if it does not redouble its financial effort and end duplication among individual European nations. The report says Europe’s NATO members should set a goal of making their existing military satellite telecommunications systems interoperable within two years. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain operate independent systems and sometimes compete with each other for business. The principal authors of the report are Christian Cabal, a member of France’s National Assembly; and Sen. Henri Revol. Both have long been active in promoting French and European space investment, saying Europe should not allow itself to fall too far behind the United States. But it is the recent acceleration of investment in China and India, and the reawakening of Russia’s space sector — the authors say Russia has multiplied space spending by 10 since 1999 — that is the focus of the report. The report’s one-paragraph introduction is an example. It mentions the following recent developments: The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration’s goal of a lunar base by 2020; China’s manned space flights; Chinese and Indian plans for lunar exploration; the successful atmospheric re-entry and recovery of an Indian orbital capsule; China’s alleged use of a laser to illuminate a U.S. military satellite; and China’s mid-January use of a ground-based missile to destroy a retired Chinese satellite. Member governments of the European Space Agency (ESA) agreed in December 2005 to give a “preference” to European rockets — Ariane 5 and the future medium- and light-class Soyuz and Vega vehicles — whenever technically and financially possible. They stopped short of adopting a French proposal for stronger language. ESA also has been considering the purchase of Russian nuclear-heating technology for Europe’s Mars exploration program. ESA science managers have said nuclear-propulsion technology should be considered for satellites traveling too far from the sun to rely on solar power. But the subject remains sensitive in Europe and ESA has not agreed to a full-scale nuclear-propulsion research effort .
**Misc
AT: Nuclear Inevitable
Fukushima caused a backlash against nuclear power internationally
Dempsey & Ewing 11 (Judy, New York Times correspondent in Berlin, and Jack, Frankfurt bureau chief for BusinessWeek, May 30, [www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/world/europe/31germany.html] AD: 7-8-11, jam)
BERLIN — The German government on Monday announced plans to shut all of the nation’s nuclear power plants within the next 11 years, a sharp reversal for Chancellor Angela Merkel after the Japanese disaster at Fukushima caused an electoral backlash by voters opposed to reliance on nuclear energy. The plan calls for phasing out all of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors — eight of which are offline — and expanding the use of renewable resources. The decision was based on recommendations of an expert commission appointed after the Japanese disaster to study an industry that generates 23 percent of Germany’s electricity. “It’s definite — the latest end for the last three nuclear plants is 2022,” said Norbert Röttgen, the environment minister. The announcement, which still faces legislative approval, was applauded by environmentalists and expected to be popular among voters. But it was greeted skeptically around Europe and within German industry. Some predicted it could harm economic growth, force Germany to import nuclear power from France, or even inflate the cost of energy across the continent. “The German decision has direct implications for Europe’s energy sector,” said Georg Zachmann, an energy expert at Bruegel, a research institute in Brussels. For Mrs. Merkel, the embrace of clean energy represents a transformation based on the politics of the ballot box. Just last year, her center-right coalition forced through an unpopular plan to extend the life of nuclear power plants, with the last to close in 2036. That action inflamed public opinion but the Fukushima disaster politicized it. The nuclear crisis is widely believed to have caused Mrs. Merkel’s party to lose control of the German state of Baden-Württemberg for the first time in 58 years, in a March election that became a referendum on energy policy.
Nuclear power is not inevitable internationally
Scoblete 11 (Greg, writer for Real Clear World, Jun 28, [www.realclearworld.com/blog/2011/06/nuclear_power_globally_unpopular.html] AD: 7-8-11, jam)
New research... shows that three in five global citizens (62%) oppose the use of nuclear energy – a quarter (26%) of those have been influenced by the recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. The latest Ipsos Global @dvisor survey shows that support for nuclear energy is far below that for solar power (97%), wind power (93%), hydroelectric power (91%) and natural gas (80%) as a source of electricity. Just one in four (38%) adults across 24 countries support the use of nuclear energy. Support is highest in India (61%), Poland (57%) and the United States (52%).
Negative public perception of nuclear space power ensures it’s never adopted
Bruno 7 (Claudio, PhD. Princeton U, School of Aerospace Engineering @ State University of Rome La Sapienza, Fall, [iaaweb.org/iaa/Studies/nuclearpropulsion.pdf] AD: 7-8-11, jam)
6.3. Finding 2: In order for the great potential advantages of nuclear propulsion to be realized, it must be perceived by a majority of the population to be safe. The utility of nuclear power is almost axiomatic, however, nuclear power has a slightly blemished reputation; only a very small fraction of this impeachment is deserved or justified. These blemishes on an otherwise impressive history have created a perception amongst a small group of anti-nuclear aficionados that all nuclear power in space is either unsafe or has some clandestine military function. As with the introduction of many new technologies, nuclear power has experienced a learning curve. Early in its infancy, the totality of nuclear system hazards were not well understood, and some operational, administrative, design bases, and implementation procedures did not appreciate the potential risks associated with its early use. Over time, and, in some respects, as a consequence of some high-profile accidents, more well-defined procedures began to be developed.
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