NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy announced that the United States was planning to build a nuclear reactor on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis campaign to return to the moon and stay there.
“We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon,” Duffy told reporters on Aug. 5. “And to have a base on the moon, we need energy, and [in] some of the key locations on the moon, we’re going to get solar power. But this fission technology is critically important.”
The transportation secretary was named interim administrator of NASA in July after President Donald Trump revoked the nomination of Jared Isaacman, private astronaut and Elon Musk ally, just before the Senate was due to cast its confirmation vote….