1:43Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy participates in a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, July 8, 2025.Aaron Schwartz/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock
Nuclear energy on the moon is essential for the United States’ objectives in space exploration and national security, and the U.S. government must "act swiftly" to construct reactors there ahead of its Earthly competitors, according to a directive obtained by ABC News from Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy.
A complete "day" on the moon encompasses two weeks of sunlight followed by around two weeks of darkness (in Earth time). Nuclear energy, referred to as fission surface power, or FSP, in the directive, is a "sustainable" and "high-capacity" energy source capable of enduring the lunar night and being utilized on other celestial bodies, including Mars, according to Duffy.
"We are in a competition to reach the moon, competing with China to establish a presence there," Duffy stated during a press briefing on Tuesday. "To set up a base on the moon, we require energy. While we will harness solar power at some key lunar locations, this visionary technology is critically significant, and we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in research."
"Can we achieve this? We are now moving past the research phase, and we are taking action," Duffy added. "We have provided the guidance to proceed. Let’s begin deploying our technology and work towards making this a reality."
When contacted for a response by ABC News, NASA remarked, "We will allow these directives to speak for themselves."
The directive, dated July 31, requests the appointment of a "Fission Surface Power Program Executive" within 30 days, who will implement and supervise the initiative and report directly to the NASA administrator. It does not specify what the nuclear reactors would power on the moon.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy participates in a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, July 8, 2025.Aaron Schwartz/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock
"Since March 2024, both China and Russia have declared on at least three occasions a collaborative effort to establish a reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s," Duffy noted in the directive. "The nation that accomplishes this first could potentially declare a keep-out zone, which would greatly restrict the United States from realizing its planned Artemis presence if not established first."
Politico was the initial outlet to report on this directive.
A second directive, released on the same day by Duffy, seeks to expedite the development of successors to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to be retired by 2030.
Although NASA has never deployed a fission nuclear reactor in space, it has been utilizing nuclear materials to power spacecraft since the 1960s. Known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, these systems harness the heat produced by the decay of plutonium-238, a nuclear element, to generate electricity for spacecraft and rovers. Currently, NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars operates using an RTG system.
In recent years, billions have been invested in developing a new type of nuclear reactor called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). These reactors generate less power than conventional reactors, but are considerably smaller in size. SMRs are still under development in the U.S., and there are currently no operational units.
"There’s a specific area of the moon that is widely recognized as the most advantageous. We have ice there, we have sunlight there. Our goal is to reach it first and secure that for America," Duffy stated on Tuesday.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
