Russia’s Kurchatov Institute reveals specifications for lunar nuclear power plant

Lead

The head of Russia’s Kurchatov Institute has disclosed new technical details about a nuclear power plant designed for the Moon, including its size and mass, according to reports from TASS. Mikhail Kovalchuk, president of the national research center, presented the specifications during a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences presidium, with the plant expected to support future lunar exploration.

The announcement, carried by three TASS reports, outlines a device with a diameter of 8 meters and a height of 6 meters, with a total mass of 1,300 kilograms, according to Kovalchuk’s presentation. The plant is intended to have a capacity of at least 5 kilowatts and is designed to operate for a decade, the sources state.

Coverage comparison

The three TASS reports, all published in early April, focused on different aspects of the announcement. The first article centered on the timeline, quoting Kovalchuk as saying the station should be ready for installation on the Moon by 2030-2032. That report also highlighted that the plant would be built using new radiation-resistant materials, per Kovalchuk’s remarks.

A second report zeroed in on the prototype development, with Kovalchuk stating that a prototype of the Selena power plant—named for the Greek goddess of the Moon—should be built in 2032. That same report, speaking at the Science on Manned Orbital Stations conference, mentioned the plant’s 10-year design life.

The most detailed piece, published the same day as the first, led with the dimensional specifications, describing the power module as 8 meters in diameter and 6 meters high, and emphasizing the mass of 1,300 kilograms. This suggests a deliberate effort to provide specifics on the engineering footprint, even as broader details about the program’s funding or development partners remain unclear.

Key claims

• Kovalchuk is quoted as saying the lunar power plant should be ready for installation on the Moon by 2030-2032, with the station to be delivered and set up as a single unit.
• The plant’s capacity is consistently reported as “at least 5 kW,” a figure that appears in all three TASS reports, though the reports do not specify the expected energy load requirements of a lunar base.
• A prototype of the Selena power plant is scheduled for construction in 2032, according to Kovalchuk, with the design based on direct energy conversion technology.
• The plant will use new radiation-resistant materials, a detail carried by one of the reports but not elaborated on in the others.
• Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear agency, is expected to begin transporting the plant’s components to space in the 2030s, according to statements from Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev cited in the reports.