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Why the US Is Racing to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
NASA has set a 2030 deadline to build a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon. It’s an ambitious but potentially achievable goal that could transform space exploration, experts tell WIRED.
The directive laid out a roadmap to design, launch, and deploy an operational 100-kilowatt reactor to the lunar South Pole within five years that would be built with commercial partners (for comparison, 100-kilowatts could power about 80 American households). While the specs are, well, speculative at this point, 100 kilowatts represents a dramatic power boost compared to the basic nuclear generators that fuel Marsrovers and space probes, which typically operate on just a few hundred watts, equivalent to a toaster or a light bulb. The directive echoes the findings of a recent report on space nuclear power, coauthored by Lal and aerospace engineer Roger Myers, which included a “Go Big or Go Home” option to build a 100-kW reactor on the moon by 2030.
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