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by Retric 753 days ago
Weight of a single component isn’t the only consideration. Having less heat output on the launch pad is a real benefit. It may take a 200 year mission for the weight to balance out, but having less variation in output is a benefit on day 0.

Further there’s many reasons why someone managing a project may say no to 10% extra plutonium even if the project could benefit from a longer lasting power supply.