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Russia may develop lunar nuclear power plant within 5-7 years — Kurchatov Institute head

Mikhail Kovalchuk expressed confidence that Russia would be the first to build the lunar nuclear power plant

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Russia may develop a nuclear power plant for the Moon within 5-7 years, President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center Mikhail Kovalchuk said in a comment to the Rossiya-24 TV channel on the sidelines of the 4th Future Technologies Forum.

"Essentially, we must transform those systems that have been effective into state-of-the-art systems using new materials. The principles are known and proven. We have, I would say, a certain linear task at this stage. Therefore, I have no doubt that we will be the first to build this nuclear power plant in the foreseeable future: 5-7 years, that’s what we’re talking about," he noted.

Kovalchuk previously announced plans to prepare the first lunar nuclear power plant. He also stated that the Kurchatov Institute, the Rosatom state corporation, and the Russian Academy of Sciences are jointly developing electrodeless plasma rocket engines for future spacecraft, including missions to the Moon and Mars.

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