April 24, 2026, 2:59PMNuclear NewsA Nuclear News photo feature.jpg)
Kate Kelly, president of BWXT Advanced Technologies (front row, in orange blazer), stands with the team that designed and built the engineering demonstration unit at the BWXT Innovation Campus in Lynchburg, Va., in January 2025. (Photo: BWXT)
Nuclear rocket propulsion has been investigated for decades, and NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission carried out significant testing in the 1960s as part of the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application program. NERVA chased the potential of the efficiency and energy density of nuclear thermal propulsion to extend our reach to new space frontiers before the program ended in 1973.