Likhachev told about plans to supply the lunar station with nuclear power

Alexey Likhachev said that the international lunar station plans to supply energy from a nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to 10 kW. According to the CEO of Rosatom, the choice of one of the five options for nuclear power plants is possible in 2027. The start of the installation is scheduled for the mid-2030s.

The head of the state corporation Likhachev believes that the industrial development of the moon and near-Earth space requires autonomous energy sources. They need to be strong at small sizes. These conditions, according to him, meet the nuclear installations, which are necessary for flights to the far reaches of the solar system. Rosatom is working on such sources together with the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Kurchatov Institute.

The technology for generating electricity for the lunar nuclear power plant has yet to be chosen. Experts are studying turbine circuits and options in which nuclear energy is converted into electricity directly. “Next year we should choose the image and start this work,” Alexey Likhachev said.

The space tractor, which also told the head of Rosatom, could lift large loads or be used in long-distance flights. In the 2030s, the megawatt-class engine for this device should start working. Among the organizations involved in this development are the federal nuclear centers in Snezhinsk and Sarov.

The head of Rosatom expects that the latest achievements of the nuclear weapons complex will be useful in space. He compared the prospects for their use with the experience of nuclear energy, the development of which in the 1940-1950s gave impetus to the creation of nuclear weapons.