Moscow: Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon from 2033-35, Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said, something he said could one day allow lunar settlements to be built. Borisov, a former deputy defense minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar program and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on “nuclear space energy”.
“Today we are seriously considering a project – somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 – to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues,” Borisov said, according to Reuters news agency. Borisov also spoke of Russian plans to build a nuclear-powered cargo spaceship. He said all the technical questions concerning the project had been solved apart from finding a solution on how to cool the nuclear reactor.
Russian officials have spoken before of ambitious plans to one day mine on the Moon, but the Russian space program has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years. China said last month it aimed to put the first Chinese astronaut on the moon before 2030.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last month dismissed a warning by the United States that Moscow planned to put nuclear weapons in space as false, saying it was a ploy to draw Russia into arms negotiations on the West’s terms.
