Brazil reaches the Tier 2 threshold. The Latin American country has an advanced national space agency with satellite launch capability. [1] The state has also developed the capacity to enrich uranium at its Resende enrichment facility, which supplies Brazil’s two nuclear power plants with domestically enriched uranium. [2] Finally, Brazil has a demonstrated interest in space reactors.

 

The Brazilian Air Force has indicated that it wants to develop space reactors to power “the next generation of Brazilian space devices.” [3] The Air Force has even coordinated with the Colorado School of Mines to research the concept of a “low enriched uranium fueled kilowatt space nuclear reactor.” [4] Initial reports seem to suggest a preference LEU fuel, but Brazil has shown a willingness to use HEU in non-weapons applications before. [5]

 

In 2008, Brazil and France agreed to cooperatively develop a nuclear-powered submarine for the Brazilian Navy. [6] Brazil’s Ministry of Defense announced that the nuclear-powered submarine would be completed by 2023. [7] Brazilian officials announced that the Navy intends to use LEU fuel for the submarine, but that Brazil reserves the right to use HEU if necessary. [8] 

 

Brazil has the capabilities and resources to pursue either an HEU- or LEU-fueled space reactor, and the country has publicly expressed its readiness to flout the HEU minimization norm. The Brazilian Air Force believes that to become an aeronautical power, it must first become an aerospace power “as soon as possible.” [9] If an HEU space race starts, it is possible that Brazil would take the HEU short cut to ensure that its Air Force will be a recognized aerospace power.

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[1] Livia Peres Milani, “Brazil’s Space Program: Finally Taking Off?” Wilson Center, October 2019. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/brazils-space-program-finally-taking

[2] Leonardo Bandarra, “Brazilian nuclear policy under Bolsonaro: no nuclear weapons, but a nuclear submarine,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 2019. https://thebulletin.org/2019/04/brazilian-nuclear-policy-under-bolsonaro/

[3] Leonardo de Holanda Mencarini, “Mass and shielding optimization studies for a low enrichment uranium fueled Kilopower space nuclear reactor,” PhD Thesis, Colorado School of Mines (2020): 36.

[4] Ibid., 36.

[5] Mark Hibbs, “Brazil may enrich to HEU for submarine reactor fuel,” Nuclear Fuel (July 24, 2000): 7.

[6] Frank von Hippel, “Mitigating the Threat of Nuclear-Weapon Proliferation via Nuclear-Submarine Programs,” Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament 2 no. 1 (2019): 137

[7] Serena Kelleher-Vergantini, “Brazil moves toward nuclear submarine,” Arms Control Today (2013). https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2013_04/Brazil-Moves-Toward-Nuclear-Submarine

[8] Ibid.

[9] Mencarini, “Mass and shielding optimization,” 36.