Russia plans nuclear power plant on the Moon

Russia plans to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon in the next decade to power its lunar space program and a joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers race to explore Earth's only natural satellite, Reuters reports.

Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space in 1961, Russia has prided itself on its status as a leading power in space exploration, but in recent decades it has fallen behind the US and, increasingly, China.

Russia's ambitions suffered a major blow in August 2023, when its unmanned Luna-25 mission crashed on the lunar surface during a landing attempt, and Elon Musk revolutionized spacecraft launches, which were once a Russian specialty.

Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos has announced that it plans to build a power plant on the Moon by 2036 and has signed a contract with aerospace company Lavochkin Association to make it happen.

Roscosmos did not explicitly state that the power plant would be nuclear, but said that the project's participants include the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research institute.

Roscosmos said the power plant's goal is to provide energy for Russia's lunar program, including rovers, an observatory and infrastructure for the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station.

"This project is an important step towards creating a permanently functioning scientific lunar station and the transition from one-time missions to a long-term lunar exploration program," Roscosmos said in a statement.

Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov said in June that one of the corporation's goals is to install a nuclear power plant on the Moon and to explore Venus, known as Earth's "sister" planet.

Russia isn't the only one with plans for the Moon. NASA announced in August that it intends to place a nuclear reactor on the Moon by the first quarter of fiscal year 2030.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in August that the US is currently lagging behind in the race to the moon. He stressed that energy is key to enabling life on the moon and then getting humans to Mars.

International rules prohibit the placement of nuclear weapons in space, but they do not prohibit the placement of nuclear power sources in space - provided they meet certain rules.

Some space analysts predict a "gold rush" on the Moon: NASA states that there are estimates of a million tons of helium-3, an isotope of helium that is rare on Earth.

Rare earth metals, used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies, are also present on the Moon, including scandium, yttrium and 15 lanthanides, research by Boeing shows.