NASA wants a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030. The goal is concrete: a small fission power plant capable of generating at least 100 kilowatts of electrical power, to be installed near the lunar south pole and operated without human intervention. Driving the initiative is Sean Duffy, U.S. Secretary of Transportation and NASA’s acting administrator, who in August signed an internal directive to accelerate the entire program and call on private industry for proposals within 60 days.
The motivation goes beyond science. China and Russia have announced on at least three occasions since 2024 a joint program to place a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2035–2036. An operational memorandum between Roscosmos and the China Manned Space Agency was signed in May 2025. The two countries intend to install the reactor as part of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the permanent base they plan to build at the lunar south pole. In the internal analysis shared by Duffy, NASA warns that whichever nation arrives first could declare a de facto exclusion zone, significantly constraining U.S. options under the Artemis program.
The lunar south pole is the most coveted location for clear-cut reasons. It harbors water ice in permanently shadowed craters — a vital resource for life support and fuel production. Solar energy is not a reliable option in that environment: the Moon’s day-night cycle lasts roughly a month, including two full weeks of total darkness. A fission reactor is entirely independent of sunlight and delivers continuous power. This is precisely why nuclear fission has become the reference technology for any serious plan to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon.
NASA had already launched the Fission Surface Power program some years ago, selecting three preliminary microreactor designs rated at 40 kilowatts each and awarding five million dollars to each project. With the new directive, the power target has been raised to 100 kW and the deadline moved up to the first quarter of fiscal year 2030. On the technical side, Duffy’s document specifies that the reactor must use a closed Brayton cycle for energy conversion — a design choice that accounts for the behavior of fluids in low-gravity environments, which differs substantially from terrestrial conditions. Proposals will come from private industry: NASA is seeking commercial partners, following the same model already in use for the commercial space stations set to replace the ISS.
Russia and China, for their part, benefit from a head start in integrated planning. Moscow has already launched more than 30 nuclear reactors into orbit over the course of its space history and holds the world’s largest reserves of low-enriched uranium. Beijing is testing the Lanyue lunar lander, which is expected to carry humans to the Moon by 2030, and the Chang’e-8 mission in 2028 is designed to lay the groundwork for a permanent base. Also worth noting is the Italian SELENE project, developed within the Italian Space Agency framework: it envisions a system of modular surface reactors — a “Moon Energy Hub” — demonstrating that Europe is actively building its own expertise in this field.
The first nation to land a functioning reactor on the Moon won’t just win a technological contest. It will secure a physical foothold, with privileged access to water ice, mineral resources, and what some analysts are already calling a potential lunar gold rush. Helium-3, rare minerals, water: the Moon’s resource endowment makes this race far more than a matter of prestige. 2030 is closer than it seems. For now, though, the construction sites are still on Earth.
