Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by sfifs 1159 days ago
What is actually the obvious reason to ban nuclear detonation in space (Not planetside) other than proliferation & security concerns?
3 comments

Low altitude nuclear detonations generate EMPs on the ground; high altitude ones may generate enough of an EMP to take out higher altitude satellites. Also, radiation will be trapped by magnetic fields like the Van Allen belts, making those larger and more dangerous. There may also be fallout concerns, but I don't think those would be significant
Your question got me curious so I did some googling.

The current international agreement is (best I can tell) UNITED NATlONS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION AND PRINCIPLES RELEVANT TO THE USE OF NUCLEAR POWER SOURCES IN OUTER SPACE [December 14, 1992]

https://csps.aerospace.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/Princ...

I only skimmed, but it says this:

> In order to mlnlmlze the quantity of radioactLve materzal in space and the risks Involved, the use of nuclear power sources in outer space shall be restrxcted to those space mLssions which cannot be operated by non-nuclear energy sources in a reasonable way.

and

> (a) Nuclear reactors may be operated: (i) On interplanetary missions; (ii) In sufficiently high orbits as defined in paragraph 2 (h); (iii) In low-Earth orbits if they are stored in sufficiently high orbits after the operational part of their mission.

So it seems like nuclear reactors are restricted, but not completely banned. For an interplanetary mission to Jupiter, it would probably be allowed.

That's a non-binding UN resolution. There's treaties about nuclear weapons in space that have the force of law (ratified by US & USSR), but there's nothing for nuclear reactors AFAIK.
Geopolitically destabilizing. Nuclear weapons in space can become nuclear weapons not in space very quickly, which makes for itchy trigger fingers.

ICBMs can be detected at launch, so you have 15 minutes to react. Not much, but better than orbital nukes hanging over your head.