Rosatom announced the development of a powerful nuclear power plant project on the moon

Rosatom, together with Roscosmos, is developing a lunar power unit with a capacity of up to 10 kW, but is already thinking about an order of magnitude more powerful station project. This was announced on April 12 by the head of the state corporation Alexey Likhachev.

"Right now we are taking the first step in creating a small lunar nuclear power plant. At the same time, we are already thinking about a project for a lunar nuclear power plant with an order of magnitude higher capacity," the industry publication Strana Rosatom reports on his website.

The parameters of the power unit should not exceed a mass of up to 1.2 thousand kg, and the period of trouble—free operation should be at least 10 years. The installation must withstand starting overloads, vacuum, radiation and temperatures up to -150 degrees.

Likhachev stressed that radioisotope sources had been working on lighthouses along the Northern Sea Route for decades and provided heat to the Chinese lunar rover in 2019. However, 10 kW is not enough for the industrial development of the Moon. Without powerful nuclear power, deep space will remain an episodic expedition, not a development zone, the head of Rosatom concluded.

"This is the starting point for technologies that will provide humanity with permanent residence in the Solar System. Rosatom is ready to provide this mission with reliable, continuous and safe energy," concluded Likhachev.

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All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.