Space nuclear: NASA and DOE MOU confirmed on the wire
From the Energy digest for 2026-10-13
What happened: Per ANS on October 13 (published ~1:45 PM ET), NASA and the Department of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a framework for cooperation on space nuclear power and propulsion — an instrument that replaces and revises two earlier agreements, titled "Accelerating American Leadership in S…" (the summary text cuts off mid-title). The article dates the signing to last week and pictures NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Energy Secretary Chris Wright signing, with OSTP Director Michael Kratsios present.
What's genuinely new: Not a debut: the Nuclear NASA storyline opened 2026-10-10 off the Oct 8 Isaacman X layer ("Nuclear NASA. With the signing of an MOU with @ENERGY…", snippet cut, no MOU text or signatories), whose watch item asked for exactly this — the instrument's text and signatories. The ANS piece supplies the confirmation layer: a signed framework replacing/revising two prior agreements, with Isaacman, Wright, and Kratsios attached. It is the agency-level sibling of the newgen DoD nuclear-demo thread (Army installation leases, Aberdeen IMSR, Antares space reactor), and that thread's shared-TRISO/fuel convergence question carries over unchanged.
Watch: The MOU's instrument list (whether ORNL or NNSA appear), a fission-surface-power procurement, budget-line follow-through, and whether the MOU's propulsion scope touches the Antares space-reactor demo already on the newgen record.
Links: ANS Nuclear Newswire