MASCOW: Space exploration historian Alexander Zheleznyakov told an interview that the United States’ efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of a nuclear reactor on the moon are unlikely to be overtaken by similar initiatives by Russia and China.
Earlier on Tuesday, Politico reported, citing internal NASA documents, that NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy would soon announce plans to accelerate the process of creating a lunar nuclear power plant. However, Zheleznyakov warned that Politico’s information may not be reliable. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the United States has long-standing nuclear and space ambitions. “Work has been done in this area before – perhaps the project will be revived. But I am sure that they will not be able to outpace Russia and China.”
The historian pointed out that Russia has sufficient technological reserves for such projects. “Recently, Mikhail Kovalchuk, president of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, said that a prototype of a lunar nuclear reactor could be ready by the early 2030s. Naturally, there will be questions about how to deliver it to the Moon, but overall, our resources are much stronger than those of the United States,” Zheleznyakov empha. He also noted that China wants to keep its developments in space nuclear technology under wraps.
On May 8, Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) signed an agreement to build a lunar power station dedicated to fundamental space research. The Russian nuclear reactor will be a significant contribution to the project for the International Lunar Research Station, which is planned to be completed by 2036.
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