DOE, NASA announce plans for a lunar surface nuclear reactor by 2030

The US Energy Department and NASA announced plans Jan. 13 for a "renewed commitment" to building a nuclear reactor on the moon.

The agencies have a longstanding partnership to support research and development of a fission surface power system for use on the moon and in future NASA missions to Mars.

The DOE said the agencies signed a memorandum of understanding that "solidifies this collaboration and advances President Trump's vision of American space superiority by deploying nuclear reactors on the moon and in orbit," including development of a lunar surface reactor by 2030, according to a Jan. 13 statement.

Plans include a fission surface power system capable of producing "plentiful" electric power that will operate for years without the need for refueling, enabling future sustained lunar missions by providing continuous and abundant power regardless of sunlight or temperature, according to the DOE.

"History shows that when American science and innovation come together, from the Manhattan Project to the Apollo Mission, our nation leads the world to reach new frontiers once thought impossible," Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. "This agreement continues that legacy."

Wright said the DOE will work with NASA and the commercial space industry on "what will be one of the greatest technical achievements in the history of nuclear energy and space exploration."

The agencies did not share the budget for such a project, details about how a reactor would be constructed on the lunar surface, or what reactor technologies might be considered.

"Under President Trump's national space policy, America is committed to returning to the moon, building the infrastructure to stay and making the investments required for the next giant leap to Mars and beyond," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. "Achieving this future requires harnessing nuclear power."

Apollo missions to the moon previously included experimental packages containing scientific instruments that US astronauts left on the lunar surface to send data back to Earth. The first package was solar-powered but relied on two 15-watt radioisotope heater units to keep the instruments warm enough to function, according to the DOE.

Subsequent packages were each powered by 70-watt SNAP-27 radioisotope thermoelectric generators. The first of those experiment package stations was shut down in 1977, according to the DOE. RTGs also powered the 1989 Galileo mission, which became the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and found liquid water on one of the gas giant's moons, Europa, as well as volcanoes on its moon called Io.

RTGs have also been used for interstellar space missions and missions to Mars.