U.S., China and Russia Vie Over Lunar Nuclear Power; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Targets Construction by 2030

[Financial News] The United States has entered a race with China and Russia to build nuclear power plants on the Moon.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 4th (local time) that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently asked contractors to prepare a reactor capable of operating near the lunar south pole by December 2030.
NASA specified that the reactor must be transportable into space and capable of operating for more than five years without maintenance.
However, the reactor's target power capacity is 20 kW, roughly equivalent to the electricity consumed by 16 U.S. households.
The United States is rushing to build a lunar nuclear power plant because China and Russia are pursuing plans to operate reactors on the Moon.
The NYT reported that the United States moved up the relevant schedule out of concern that the construction of Chinese and Russian reactors on the lunar surface could effectively create no-go zones on the Moon.


China and Russia plan to build a 10-kW lunar reactor named "Selena" by 2036 and operate it for 10 years.
A nuclear power plant is an essential requirement for the permanent bases that the two countries are seeking to build on the Moon.
Lunar exploration rovers and other equipment are currently powered by solar power and radioisotope generators, but solar power is unreliable on the Moon, where night lasts for two weeks.
Consequently, a nuclear power plant capable of providing a steady supply of electricity is essential for expanding lunar bases.
The competition over lunar reactors is also a contest to showcase space technology, in addition to exploring lunar bases.
President Donald Trump has declared U.S. superiority in space to be part of his "America First" policy, while Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have adopted a similar stance.
Russia currently holds an advantageous position in space nuclear power.
During the Cold War in the 1970s and 1980s, Russia already had experience placing more than 30 reactors aboard satellites and sending them into orbit. It also has the world's largest supplier of low-enriched uranium, which is considered the safest type for use in space.
Mikhail Kovalchuk, head of the Kurchatov Institute, which supports the design of lunar reactors, expressed confidence in an interview with the TASS Russian News Agency (TASS), saying, "Russia essentially has no competitors in the field of space nuclear energy."


In contrast, the United States launched a satellite carrying a reactor in 1965, operated it briefly and then shut it down. Since then, it has spent more than $20 billion on its space nuclear program but has never redeployed a reactor.
However, experts expect the countries to miss the deadlines they have currently set.
No country yet has a lander capable of placing heavy radioactive material on the Moon's uneven surface, and no reactor has ever been installed in a low-gravity environment.
Moreover, it is impossible to know precisely how much power the lunar bases, which have yet to be built, will require. As a result, reactor designs are expected to undergo several revisions.
Experts in the scientific community have also pointed out that these plans raise significant safety concerns.
The United States and Russia explain that the reactors will remain shut down until they reach the Moon, and that the uranium fuel will be kept cool, posing little radiation risk even if they fall back to Earth.
However, if a rocket explodes during launch or a reactor crashes into the sea, it could lead to a radioactive release.

[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs correspondent Reporter