NASA is Accelerating Plans to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon; Schedule to be Announced This Week

Metaverse Planet August 5, 2025Last Updated: November 3, 2025

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NASA, which has been preparing for approximately three years to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon, is now getting ready to make these plans more concrete. NASA will announce the project schedule this week.

Both the United States and China and Russia are planning to build nuclear reactors on the Moon in the near future. In this context, the U.S. had already taken its first steps in 2022 by signing agreements with three companies: Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, and IX. The project’s behind-the-scenes preparations have been ongoing since then, but it appears things will become much more tangible this week.

According to a Politico report, acting NASA administrator and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy recently sent a new directive to NASA employees, asking them to accelerate the project. Duffy plans to hold a press conference this week to officially announce the project.

When this project first emerged, NASA’s agenda included a 40-kilowatt reactor, and initial work was based on that. However, the new directive from the acting NASA administrator indicates that the U.S. plans to build a 100-kilowatt reactor on the Moon by 2030. For this reason, the private sector is being asked to shift its efforts in this direction.

The cooperation between China and Russia to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon seems to have alarmed the U.S. The new directive shared with NASA employees by Sean Duffy points out that the first country to establish a nuclear reactor on the Moon could prohibit entry to that area, which could become a significant obstacle for the U.S. This urgency is the reason behind the 2030 target, as the China-Russia project is also expected to be completed between 2030 and 2035.

Donald Trump’s budget cuts, which were nearly halved for NASA, significantly restricted the agency’s resources. However, these cuts mainly affected projects focused on scientific research. Projects like this one, which foresee the establishment of a nuclear reactor on the Moon, seem to have been untouched by the cuts for now. The fact that this will be Duffy’s first notable project announced as acting NASA administrator also shows the Trump administration’s confidence in the initiative.

Why is Building a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon Important?

The plan to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon is an extension of NASA’s broader plan to establish permanent lunar bases. Although solar energy is effective in some areas on the lunar surface, the lunar night periods, which last as long as 14 Earth days, make this method insufficient on its own. Nuclear reactors have the advantage of providing uninterrupted energy regardless of the time of day, weather conditions, or location. This can guarantee a continuous energy supply for shelter, communication, scientific research, and advanced manufacturing technologies at the lunar bases.

Furthermore, these reactors could play a critical role in testing technologies that could pave the way for more distant missions, such as to Mars. The development of compact nuclear power systems that can operate in a space environment is seen as a necessity for extending the duration of crewed missions and securing the operation of autonomous systems.