Overview

• Sean Duffy has directed NASA to solicit proposals for a compact 100-kilowatt fission power system aimed at powering a permanent base at the lunar south pole.
• Critics including Joseph Cirincione and Kathryn Huff warn that the accelerated 2030 timeline clashes with current funding levels and could divert resources from other NASA missions.
• The plan relies on unproven launch vehicles such as SpaceX’s Starship and faces added uncertainty if the Space Launch System is canceled under proposed budget cuts.
• Russia and China’s joint announcement of a lunar reactor by 2035 has intensified the race for energy infrastructure and the prospect of ‘keep-out’ zones on the Moon.
• The 1967 Outer Space Treaty permits peaceful nuclear power but requires “due regard” for other states, and the first reactor may set legal and operational norms.