Nuclear power - other than battery supplied - is pretty much a dead issue. There are numerous power plants being developed, sure, but they will never be permitted off the ground - thanks to our local envirowackos’ work in the courts. There is even a very strong lobby to block any further exploration of the moon because it will disturb the ‘pristine’ environment, etc. Nuclear power use in space by the US will never happen unless there is a sea-change in the public’s perception of nuclear use and power, which will only come about if the US returns to classical education, and if the public at large has something other than self- indulgence on its collective mind.
Back in those days bugs were worked out on the spot. People had real classical educations and knew how to fix things, without waiting for some study to be completed. Called self-reliance - a novel concept today.
Now we have committees to study each individual problem, publish papers no one reads, and that’s that until the need or funds get large enough to pursue. It is easier to study the problem than to actually do it. (Which is why it took so long to pioneer west of the Alleghenies - all those committees took decades to figure out if a wooden wagon wheel would be up to the task, and what if one broke? Oh my!)
Yep, accidents happen, and that is why no man should leave the safety of his home and bed. Oh and dread someone steal the tech! Like the Soviet union, perhaps? We would have been so far ahead by that time we could have easily shut them down.
China will make use of those designs for military use (there is no other use for them), but the whole trick - as I mentioned - is in the design of very small reliable efficient small nukes - an extremely difficult task when you cannot actually test one. (Although the Chinese may have tested something on that order timed to coincide with the mysterious huge explosion which happened in NK in 2004). All of this is part of China’s ongoing Project 863 - the search for the next super-weapon.
I hear what you are saying about the risk averse and hidebound culture that has descended over engineering innovation, especially nuclear power. Also, the softening of US higher education.
Part of turning public opinion against nuclear power may well have been successful influence operations by the Soviets through “peace” “disarmament” and “anti-nuclear” front groups.
But I am trying to cheer you up here. Hope springs eternal, and all is not yet lost. Technology is accelerating with the explosion of computers, AI, robotics and biotech. Big changes are coming. Feel the excitement!
One hope, is that the same political involvement which restrains nuclear development, can be turned to permit it, by the bribes of wealthy industrialists with a financial interest in it.
Bill Gates was recently in Paris at the “Climate Change” Conference, lobbying for political support for his nuclear power venture (Terrapower). That particular project might not be a winner due to the collapse of the price of competing oil and gas, but it is an example of a businessman who could buy influence to break a technological logjam (or hire sub-contractors to do so).
I think that the current law was promoted (whether by persuasion, inducements or an artful mix of both) by up and coming asteroid mining companies like Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, which are already preparing small “cubesat” probes for surveying. This legislative effort was just clearing potential obstacles to their business plan, as a Board of Directors would reasonably require, before big investments are sunk.
When they need the power of strong nuclear propulsion for big hauls, their lobbyists will probably make it happen for them as well. As you pointed out, effective technology has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, just awaiting approval and funding.
One estimate from the late 1990s of the wealth available from asteroid mining (from water for space use and fuel production, as well as the platinum family of elements), was about $10 billion - for every person on earth at the time. One asteroid was estimated to have more platinum than the total cumulative production on Earth so far, and significant quantities of other precious elements as well. With that kind of money at stake you could buy a majority at the UN, let alone congress.
The 2020’s will be the serious opening of the near solar system.