Plutonium-238 pellet
Plutonium-238 pellet.

SAN FRANCISCO — Despite repeated actions by U.S. lawmakers to deny funding for domestic production of plutonium-238 (Pu-238) in U.S. Energy Department budget bills, NASA has begun mapping out the steps needed to resume production of the nuclear material with money included in the space agency’s 2011 budget.

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...