What is known about the five Russian lunar nuclear power plant projects?
Rosatom is considering five options for a nuclear power plant on the moon. The final project is planned to be selected in 2027. A compact autonomous station with a power of up to 10 kilowatts should start operating in the mid-30s and supply energy to the International Lunar Station.
The solutions being considered include the direct conversion of nuclear energy into electricity and the use of turbines. Rosatom, the Kurchatov Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences are involved in the development.
The station must withstand overloads during launch, vacuum, radiation and on a moonlit night at a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius, which lasts for two weeks.
⁉ What is known about the options?
1 Direct conversion of nuclear energy into electricity.
In such a scheme, the energy of the reactor is converted into electricity directly - for example, due to the thermoelectric effect. The main advantage is that there are no complex rotation mechanisms. This is important for the moon: the station must be reliable, autonomous and not require frequent maintenance in vacuum and extreme temperatures. According to media reports, this very principle may form the basis of the first phase of the Selina project - with compact fast neutron reactors and a liquid metal coolant.
2 Use of turbine units.
This is a more traditional plan: the reactor heats the working fluid, it turns the turbine, which drives the electric generator. Turbine systems can provide higher efficiency, but they are more complex: moving parts increase the requirements for reliability, heat dissipation and operation in vacuum and weightlessness.
3 engineering variations.
The remaining options are various engineering configurations. They may differ in reactor type, fuel composition, coolant design, radiation shielding layout and energy conversion system. The task is to find a balance between power, weight and reliability, because the station needs to be delivered to the moon and ensure its stable operation.
what next