Overview:

Given the increased government, public, and private sector interest and investment in space exploration
initiatives, infrastructure, and technologies over the last 10 years, particularly with the Artemis Lunar
Exploration program in the United States of America (USA), and other space programs within the
international community (Canada, Japan, Korea, Europe, China, India, Russia, and others (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_government_space_agencies) ), the time has now come where it
is advantageous to establish a new technical division within the Canadian Nuclear Society – the Space
Nuclear Applications Division (CNS-SNAP-D). This new division can help coordinate and facilitate
education, communication, and cooperation between different stakeholder groups in Canada with
regards to the use of nuclear energy for space exploration applications.
There is growing interest and recognition within Canada and within the international community of the
need to develop nuclear reactor technologies that could be used to provide power and propulsion
capabilities to support space exploration efforts, given the limitations of other power and propulsion
options.
Reliable power and propulsion is needed for establishing and maintaining robotic and human outposts
on various planetary bodies (such as the Moon, Mars, moons of Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus/Neptune), and
for supporting the operation of exploratory spacecraft and probes (for all planets, moons, and asteroids
within the Solar System).