COVER STORY | LUNAR POWER space race The new
A nuclear reactor on the moon would solve space exploration’s current chicken- and-egg quandary: whether to build power systems or demand systems first. The technicalities of putting nuclear power on the moon.
By Eve Thomas
REVIVING THE 70-YEAR-OLD space race, the US and Russia – the latter collaborating with China – are set on building the first substantial nuclear reactor on the moon. Both projects seek to power new demand systems, with fears around ‘keep-out’ zones and future mineral dominance spurring the need to win. However, the timescales are ambitious; US Secretary
of Transportation and Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced in August that the US would put a 100 kW nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030, five years ahead of Russia and China’s plans to do the same. The US’ planned reactor will power the Artemis base
camp, but there is some industry scepticism around the plausibility of overcoming mountainous engineering hurdles in the time frame outlined. Russia and China will face the same hurdles, although on a somewhat less pressured timescale, to realise their plan to power the joint International Lunar Research Station.
The history of powering the moon The use of nuclear power on the moon is not new. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) have been part of lunar operations since the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, when RTGs containing plutonium 238 were used to power scientific instruments left on the moon’s surface. The heat from radioactive decay is converted into electricity by exploiting the thermoelectric effect and such systems are simple, light and reliable. Since then, RTGs have been the go-to power source for
many space missions, powering more than 25 US space vehicles. RTGs powered Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, the first crafts to fly past Jupiter and Saturn, respectively, and the Ulysses orbiter, which was the first to pass by the poles of the Sun in 1994. RTGs also power rovers including Perseverance and Curiosity on Mars, and the Voyager probes, now the most distant human-made objects ever launched.
Above: A concept illustration of a fission surface power system on the surface of the moon Source: Lockheed Martin
22 | November 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com
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