Nasa wants to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon, reports claim

Nasa is planning to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon , according to reports.

The agency has been instructed to “move quickly” to achieve the technology by Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation who is serving as the interim head of Nasa.

“To properly advance this critical technology to be able to support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly,” he wrote to staff, according to the New York Times . The plans were first reported by Politico .

He warned that China and Russia plan to put their own reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s, with a view to building a base together. If they do, then they could restrict the US building one by declaring “a keep-out zone”,