KEY POINTS NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy will seek proposals from industry to build nuclear power plants on the moon and Mars to support its long-term exploration plans. The goal is to have a flight system, lander and reactor in place by 2026. The facility will be fully manufactured and assembled on Earth, and tested for safety. The nuclear power plants will provide enough electrical power to establish an outpost on the moon or Mars.

1. Why NASA
wants to put a
Nuclear Power Plant
on
The Moon ?

2. KEY POINTS
• NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy will seek
proposals from industry to build nuclear power
plants on the moon and Mars to support its long-
term exploration plans.
• The goal is to have a flight system, lander and
reactor in place by 2026.
• The facility will be fully manufactured and
assembled on Earth, and tested for safety.
• The nuclear power plants will provide enough
electrical power to establish an outpost on the
moon or Mars.

3. IllustrationofanuclearfissionpowersystemconceptontheMoon. NASA

4. •NASA and the U.S. Department of
Energy will seek proposals from
industry to build a nuclear power
plant on the moon and Mars to
support its long-term exploration
plans.
•The proposal is for a fission surface
power system, and the goal is to have
a flight system, lander and reactor in
place by 2026.

5. • Anthony Calomino, NASA's nuclear
technology portfolio lead within the Space
Technology Mission Directorate, said that
the plan is to develop a 10-kilowatt class
fission surface power system for
demonstration on the moon by the late
2020s.
• The facility will be fully manufactured and
assembled on Earth, then tested for safety
and to make sure it operates correctly.

6. • Afterwards, it will be integrated with a
lunar lander, and a launch vehicle will
transport it to an orbit around the moon.
A lander will lower it to the surface, and
once it arrives, it will be ready for
operation with no additional assembly or
construction required.
• The demonstration is expected to last for
one year, and could ultimately lead to
extended missions on the moon, Mars,
and beyond.

7. • "Once the technology is proven through the
demonstration, future systems could be scaled up or
multiple units could be used together for long-
duration missions to the moon and eventually
Mars," Calomino said.
• "Four units, providing 10 kilowatts of electrical
power each, would provide enough power to
establish an outpost on the moon or Mars. The
ability to produce large amounts of electrical power
on planetary surfaces using a fission surface power
system would enable large-scale exploration,
establishment of human outposts, and utilization
of in situ resources, while allowing for the possibility
of commercialization."

8. • NASA is working on this with the Idaho National
Laboratory (INL), a nuclear research facility
that's part of the DOE's complex of labs.
• But is the plan realistic, and is delivery possible
six years from now? According to Steve
Johnson, director of the Space Nuclear Power
and Isotope Technologies Division at the Idaho
National Laboratory, the answer is "yes."

9. • "We are able to leverage years of research
and development work on advanced fuels
and materials as well as recent commercial
space transportation advances to reduce
risk to the schedule, to meet the 2026
date," Johnson said.
• "We really are striving to bring the
commercial nuclear industry innovation to
the table to work with NASA and the
aerospace industry utilizing existing
technologies."

10. •Calomino said that the
technologies that are critical to the
success of this project are a
nuclear reactor, power conversion,
heat rejection and space flight
technology.

11. How the nuclear plant will work
• "A low enriched form of nuclear fuel will power the
nuclear core," he said. "The small nuclear reactor will
generate heat that is transferred to the power
conversion system. The power conversion system will
consist of engines that are designed to operate on
reactor heat rather than combustible fuel.
• Those engines use the heat, convert it to electric
power that is conditioned and distributed to user
equipment on the lunar and Martian surfaces. Heat
rejection technology is also important to maintain the
correct operating temperatures for the equipment."

12. • Johnson said that in addition to the
research and development that has taken
place over the past several decades, the
existing physical infrastructure dedicated
to creating the nuclear reactor, power
conversion, heat rejection and space flight
technology will make the 2026 timeline
attainable.

13. • "We can utilize existing facilities and
technical expertise resident at our national
laboratories to support this important
initiative to meet the country's timeline," he
said.
• "At INL, we are supporting a future
industry/partnership effort in the coming
months to design this demonstration
reactor, bringing together aerospace,
nuclear and power companies for this
monumental effort."

14. AphotoofthemoontakenbySpaceIL'sBeresheetspacecraftinorbit.SpaceIL

15. • Calomino said that the agency has
partnered with the DOE, and they will
jointly define mission and system
requirements.
• The INL will manage development
contracts for the fission surface power
lunar system, including its reactor and
shield, power conversion system, heat
rejection system, and power
management and distribution system.

16. •"The fission surface power system
will be designed to operate at around
10 kilowatts of electrical power for
around 10 years," he said, adding
that 10 kilowatts is roughly
equivalent to the amount of energy
needed to power three or four large
households.

17. • Calomino said that the laboratory
issued a request for information to
gauge industry interest and solicit
designs for the project.
• It received 22 written responses from
large and small companies, all from the
aerospace, nuclear, and power
conversion sectors.

18. • While he didn't give the names of any of
these companies, he would say that the
companies were all experienced in making
nuclear reactors, developing spaceflight
technology, and manufacturing the
specialized equipment that will be needed
for this particular project.
• He added that NASA and the DOE plan to
release another request for proposals,
related specifically to nuclear fission power,
in early 2021. Future contract award values
are still to be determined.

19. • "The government plans to award multiple
short-term contracts to develop a preliminary
design, then a subsequent large contract for
the final flight hardware development," he
said. "The project anticipates that companies
will form teams to address all technology
areas required to develop this unique and
complex power system.“
• Calomino said that the project is so complex
because it requires the integration of
different organizational engineering skill sets.

20. • "Companies that specialize in nuclear
reactor development may not have
corporate knowledge or experience
developing spaceflight equipment or
power conversion systems," he said.
"Additionally, there may be other
specialized communications equipment,
sensors, power conversion technology,
and heat transfer technology that is
obtained most efficiently by forming
partnerships."

21. Is a nuclear reactor safe on the moon?
• The idea of a nuclear reactor on the moon may seem
unusual to the general public — or even dangerous.
Andrew Crabtree, founder of the Get Into
Nuclear employment agency, said that while there were
many factors to consider in this effort, the issue of whether
it's safe to use nuclear power in space is not one of them.
• "Nuclear energy has been used in space numerous times
before," Crabtree said. "Atomic energy has been operating
on the moon since the flight in November 1969 of Apollo
12 successfully withstanding immense temperature
variations. Apollo 12 marked the first use of a nuclear
electrical power system on the moon."

22. • He also said that people with concerns about
keeping space free of pollution should rest easy.
• "Before you say something like, 'We shouldn't be
polluting space with nuclear waste,' know that
almost every single space mission you've ever
heard of has used radioisotope thermoelectric
generators, which have Plutonium-238 as their
electricity source."
• Shel Horowitz, a profitability and marketing
consultant for green businesses said that putting
a nuclear power plant on the moon would be a
boondoggle and a wholly unnecessary one at
that.

23. • "With the rapidly falling cost of truly clean power
from the sun, wind, and small-scale hydro, plus
the growing efficiencies we've achieved through
conservation, there is no reason to go through a
lengthy, expensive, and fraught process," he said.
"We can meet our energy needs without this."
• In response, Calomino said that this project could
very well call for the use of the same renewable
energy sources cited by Horowitz. Other missions
conducted in the future may require them as well,
but there are unique challenges to operating in
space that may make using renewable energy
sources impractical, if not impossible.

24. • "These missions could call for a variety of solar, battery,
radioisotope and fission power systems to enable a wide
range of demanding requirements," he said. "Fission
surface power is necessary in places where solar power,
wind and hydro power are not readily available. On Mars,
for example, the sun's power varies widely throughout
the seasons, and periodic dust storms can last for
months.
• On the moon, the cold lunar night lingers for 14 days,
while sunlight varies widely near the poles and is absent
in the permanently shadowed craters. In these
challenging environments, power generation from
sunlight is difficult and fuel supply is limited. Fission
surface power offers a lightweight, reliable and efficient
solution."

25. • Steve Melink, the author of Fusion Capitalism: A Clean
Energy Vision For Conservatives, and founder and CEO of
Melink Corp., a company that promotes renewable energy
for the commercial building industry, said that there were
other factors to consider as well.
• "When, not if, something goes wrong, how will we fix the
problem, especially if it is an urgent one?" he asked.
"Nuclear power is so complicated that anticipating every
foreseeable problem will require parts, technicians, and
supplies that would not seem feasible for generations to
come."
• He recommended that NASA use solar photovoltaics,
which he said are already being used in space to generate
power, and which he described as a practical solution.
•

26. Fission surface power is necessary in
places where solar power, wind power,
and hydro power are not readily
available.
AnthonyCalomino
NASA'SNUCLEARTECHNOLOGYPORTFOLIOLEADWITHINTHESPACE
TECHNOLOGYMISSIONDIRECTORATE

27. • "The cost has come down so much in the last 10 years
that utilities, businesses, and schools everywhere here
on Earth are installing it over other available options," he
said of solar photovoltaics. "There are no catastrophic
risks like meltdowns, radioactive contamination and
complete power failures. Solar is the ultimate solution to
ensure redundancy and expandability over time.“
• Despite these concerns, Calomino said that safety has
been NASA's priority all along. The project still has to
undergo the National Environmental Policy Act's
approval process, which includes evaluating the project's
environmental effects, and the power system will be
designed so that nuclear fuel will not even be activated
until it's on the moon's surface.

28. • "Unlike terrestrial reactors, there is no intention
for fuel removal or replacement," he said.
• Calomino said that at the end of its 10-year
mission, there's also a plan to retire the facility
safely.
• "At the end of life, the system will shut down,
and radiation levels will gradually diminish to
safe levels for human access and handling," he
said. "The used systems could be moved to a
remote storage location where they would not
pose any threat to the crew or environment."

29. • An artist's conception of a human Mars base, with a cutaway revealing an
interior horticultural area Source: NASA

30. • Dr. Jose Morey, chief medical innovation officer
at Liberty BioSecurity, said that even if there's
an incident at the facility on the moon, it poses
little risk to Earth. This is because the planet is
protected by an atmosphere that blocks out the
sort of deadly radiation generated in outer
space.
• "There are various forms of radiation, and
cosmic rays are some of the most deleterious,
and the universe is awash in it," he said. "There
are also all other forms of radiation abundantly
found throughout."

31. • Dr. Morey added that some of the companies
that have expressed interest in participating in
this effort include Blue Origin, and BWXT. Blue
Origin would not provide a comment to CNBC,
and BWXT did not return requests for comments.
• "It is a mix of general energy engineering
companies, traditional aerospace companies,
and new aerospace players as well," he said.
• While this endeavor is only in its opening stages,
it suggests that the nuclear energy industry is still
exploring new frontiers. Despite the complex
political nature of the nuclear power issue, Dr.
Morey said that its advantages make it ideal for
powering U.S. efforts in space.

32. • "Nuclear energy has always been a very clean
form of energy and extremely effective," he
said. "Realistically, it will be pivotal to deep
space exploration, and more importantly, to
humanity becoming a multi-planetary species.
• This new dawn of space exploration will see a
resurgence in the nuclear industry until the
next form of efficient, clean energy is
discovered."