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First lunar nuclear power plant to be ready by 2030 — expert

Earlier, Mikhail Kovalchuk stated that whoever finds a way of providing power on the lunar surface will be the first to claim the Moon

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The first nuclear power plant to be installed on the Moon will be ready by 2030, President of National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Earlier, the scientist stated that whoever finds a way of providing power on the lunar surface will be the first to claim the Moon.

"We have complete designs for extraterrestrial power stations, ones that can be deployed on the Moon. <...> According to the plan, we must prepare the first nuclear power station for installation on the Moon by 2030," Kovalchuk said.

In February, during a plenary session at the Future Technologies Forum, Kovalchuk informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Kurchatov Institute, in collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, could eventually ensure the delivery and operation of specialized power units on the Moon using newly developed technologies. This includes electrode-less rocket plasma engines for future spacecraft, including missions to the Moon and Mars.