Framatome and Perpetual Atomics to Scale Up Space Battery Production for Future Missions

Framatome and Perpetual Atomics to Scale Up House Battery Manufacturing for Future Missions

by Sophie Jenkins

London, UK (SPX) Mar 24, 2025

Framatome and Perpetual Atomics have formalised a brand new strategic partnership by way of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aiming to scale up the manufacturing of americium-based radioisotope energy methods, also known as “area batteries.” Signed through the Farnborough Worldwide House Present, the settlement outlines a joint effort to advance the commercial processing of americium into sealed sources for radioisotope heater items (RHUs) and radioisotope thermoelectric mills (RTGs).

These energy methods, which generate warmth by way of the pure decay of radioisotopes, can use that warmth immediately or convert it into electrical vitality. Amongst out there isotopes, americium-241 stands out resulting from its prolonged half-life of roughly 430 years, making it an optimum alternative for area missions requiring sustained vitality over prolonged durations.

The collaboration is designed to handle the necessity for dependable vitality options for deep area exploration, with a deal with industrialising the manufacturing processes to satisfy the calls for of upcoming missions.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with Perpetual Atomics to collectively pioneer the additional improvement of nuclear energy expertise, pushing new frontiers in enabling deep area exploration. The partnership forges Perpetual Atomics’ cutting-edge expertise in radioisotope nuclear energy methods with Framatome’s world nuclear pedigree in production-scale industrialisation,” mentioned Dr. Kason Bala, Chief Business Officer, UK Defence and House at Framatome Ltd.

Professor Richard Ambrosi, Chief Scientific Officer, founder, and Director of Perpetual Atomics, commented: “The UK and Europe host a big stock of americium, and this mixed with the expertise maturity, know-how, and industrial functionality to scale manufacturing and manufacturing establishes an necessary basis for the UK and European House Company (ESA) programmes. Perpetual Atomics appears ahead to working carefully with Framatome to develop industrialisation options for radioisotope energy methods at scale.”

The settlement leverages Framatome’s intensive expertise in nuclear manufacturing and regulatory compliance and Perpetual Atomics’ 20 years of innovation within the discipline, a lot of which has been pushed by the House Nuclear Energy group on the College of Leicester. Framatome House and Framatome Ltd are anticipated to play vital roles in supporting lunar and Mars exploration missions below UK and ESA initiatives later this decade.

Associated Hyperlinks

Framatome

Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com