PHOSENERGY LIMITED
The project will design a Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU) to allow a lunar surface payload to survive and operate over multiple lunar nights. The feasibility element will include the selection of an appropriate radionuclide, hot pellet design using numerical heat transfer and radiation–transport models, design of a ballistic casing and thermal shielding, prototype manufacturing and testing and logistics and regulatory challenges for the irradiation. Processing and manufacture of the heat source shall be addressed, ensuring radionuclide in substantial quantities for future commercial exploitation. The project will take the RHU casing to a Technology Readiness Level of 6.