[BRIEF NOTE] The law of lunar helium-3
Oct. 23rd, 2009 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonald(I know that I promised the last post to be my final one of the day. So I lied.)
I never thought that I'd reading about the legal implications of lunar helium-3 mining. That post links to this one, an analysis by Chris Borgen, in turn linking to this access-locked paper by one Richard Bilder. The paper is abstracted by the author below.
Helium-3, an isotope of helium that could be used to power relatively clean nuclear fusion power plants on Earth, is found on abundance on the Moon owing to billions of years of accretion of solar wind on the Moon's surface. In the past decade or so, helium-3 mining has been the main economic justification for near-future Moon colonization. China is even rumoured to be planning to start mining.
The problem with all this seems to be that, apart from commercial nuclear fusion being decades away, lunar helium-3 mining doesn't seem to be economically viable owing to the exceptionally high investments necessary in stripmining hundreds of square kilometres of the lunar surface.
Do I have this right? If nothing else, the legal discussion could lead to interesting developments in space law. Right?
I never thought that I'd reading about the legal implications of lunar helium-3 mining. That post links to this one, an analysis by Chris Borgen, in turn linking to this access-locked paper by one Richard Bilder. The paper is abstracted by the author below.
This article addresses questions of U.S. international legal and space policy arising from current proposals of the U.S., Russia, China and India to establish national bases on the Moon, in part with the purpose of mining and bringing to Earth Helium-3 (He-3). He-3 is an isotope of helium that is available in quantity only on the Moon and could, as an ideal fuel for nuclear fusion reactors, furnish humanity a virtually unlimited source of safe, non-polluting energy for centuries to come. For example, it is estimated that 40 tons of liquefied He-3 brought from the Moon to the Earth – about the amount that could comfortably fit in the cargo bays of two of the existing U.S. space shuttles – would provide sufficient fuel for He-3-based fusion reactors to meet the full electrical needs of the U.S. – or a quarter of the entire world’s electrical needs – for an entire year. However, there is as yet no international consensus on whether, or how, any nation or private enterprise can exploit or acquire title to He-3 or other lunar resources. The article calls attention to what may become a “race to the Moon” to obtain He-3 and discusses: (1) the technical and economic prospects for the development of He-3-based energy; (2) the present legal situation concerning the exploitation of lunar resources such as He-3; and (3) policy options for the U.S. regarding the establishment of an international legal regime capable of avoiding conflict in the exploitation of He-3 and other lunar resources and facilitating the broad scale development of He-3-based energy.
Helium-3, an isotope of helium that could be used to power relatively clean nuclear fusion power plants on Earth, is found on abundance on the Moon owing to billions of years of accretion of solar wind on the Moon's surface. In the past decade or so, helium-3 mining has been the main economic justification for near-future Moon colonization. China is even rumoured to be planning to start mining.
The problem with all this seems to be that, apart from commercial nuclear fusion being decades away, lunar helium-3 mining doesn't seem to be economically viable owing to the exceptionally high investments necessary in stripmining hundreds of square kilometres of the lunar surface.
Do I have this right? If nothing else, the legal discussion could lead to interesting developments in space law. Right?
