US Will Build Nuclear Power Plant on Moon, Acting NASA Chief Duffy Says

‘We are now going to move beyond studying, and we have given direction to go,’ Sean Duffy said.

Private lunar lander Blue Ghost's shadow is seen on the moon's surface after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA on March 2, 2025. NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP

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.”