Experts say US plans for lunar nuclear reactor are ‘cock-eyed'

Irish Independent

18 hours ago

'The whole proposal is cock-eyed and runs against the sound management of a space programme that is now being starved of money,' American national-security analyst, nuclear expert and author Joseph Cirincione told the Independent.
Nuclear has been used in space since the 1960s. The US launched its first test reactor into orbit in 1965, and the former Soviet Union has sent up dozens.
Nasa says that a new 100-kilowatt reactor could be used to power a future base at the lunar South Pole, and fuel prospective missions to Mars and beyond. Nuclear would help to fill gaps in solar energy that occur when that side of the moon is in darkness.
The majority of space experts have said that placing a reactor on the moon is possible, so why is Nasa's current plan 'cock-eyed'? The problem is the proposed timeline.
Interim Nasa administrator Sean Duffy – who also serves as US president Donald Trump's transportation secretary – pushed to expedite the project detailed in a memo this week.
Mr Duffy said the administration wanted to have a nuclear reactor ready to launch by 2030. Earlier this year, China and Russia announced a plan to build a nuclear reactor for a lunar base by 2035.
'The first country to do so could potentially declare a 'keep-out' zone, which would significantly inhibit the US from establishing a planned Artemis presence if not there first,' Mr Duffy said.
Nasa first announced in 2021 that it would put a reactor on the moon 'within a decade'. In 2024, the agency said that their target date for delivery of a reactor to the launchpad was the early 2030s. But Mr Cirincione – who is vice-chair of the Centre for International Policy, a non-profit that advocates for a peaceful approach to foreign policy – says essentially no progress has been made.
'It was in the last Trump administration that Nasa had put out a press release ... about how they're going to develop these small, modular nuclear reactors for use on the moon, and it was going to be ready by 2026,' he said.
'Oh, really? So where is it?'
He believes it could take up to 20 years for a nuclear reactor on the moon to become a reality. Nasa would need a working launch vehicle, a small and adaptable reactor, and the ability to land on the moon. Right now, the SpaceX Starship is the only option – but it has exploded during several of its test flights.
Accelerating the [Fission Surface Power] programme could come at the expense of … core elements of Nasa's public-serving mission
The agency has been working with Boeing on a space launch system – the main competitor to SpaceX's Starship – but that programme would be cancelled under the Trump administration's proposed cuts, which slash 24pc from Nasa's overall budget.
There are also the scientific and technological advances needed for the nuclear reactors.
They must be able to withstand harsh conditions on the moon, including temperature swings from 121C during the day to -246C at night.
Many scientists and nuclear energy experts have shared in Mr Cirincione's scepticism.
Kathryn Huff – a former nuclear energy official at the US department of energy, and a professor at the University of Illinois – wrote in a Bluesky social media post that she's not 'bullish' on 'unrealistic timelines'.
'The 2030 target does not align well with recent budgetary trends,' Dr Huff said in a statement shared by the university. 'Accelerating the [Fission Surface Power] programme could come at the expense of other critical priorities, including earth science, climate observation and space-based weather forecasting – all core elements of Nasa's public-serving mission.'
Alfredo Carpineti, an Italian astrophysicist, wrote in IFLScience this week that the proposal is unfeasible: 'Even if we allow landing the nuclear reactor on December 31, 2030, the timing is really too short for something that must not have any faults if you want to operate it safely.'
Others were more optimistic about Nasa's accelerated timeline.
Sebastian Corbisiero – a senior technical adviser at Idaho National Laboratory who leads the US energy department's space reactor programme – told the Independent that a nuclear reactor on the moon is 'doable' by 2030.
'Nuclear reactor technology has been around for decades, so its well known,' he said. 'Some key differences with a space reactor is that it needs to fit on a rocket – so there are mass and volume requirements – and that the system needs to operate in vacuum, so components will need to be built to survive that environment.'