The 1981 United Nations Report: An historical consensus on the safe use of nuclear power sources in space

Abstract

In 1981, after over three years of study and discussion, the technical specialists in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space agreed to a report which provided general safety criteria; a suggested format for notification for reentering space vehicles containing nuclear power sources; suggested improvements in orbit prediction; and recommendations relating to the search and recovery of a nuclear power source. The results of that first consensus on the use of nuclear power sources are summarized to provide an historical framework for developing international norms on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space.