UK backs Rolls-Royce project to build a nuclear reactor on the moon
LONDON — The UK Space Agency said Friday it would back research by Rolls-Royce looking at the use of nuclear power on the moon.
In a statement, the government agency said researchers from Rolls-Royce had been working on a Micro-Reactor program "to develop technology that will provide power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon."
The UKSA will now provide £2.9 million (around $3.52 million) of funding for the project, which it said would "deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor."
"All space missions depend on a power source, to support systems for communications, life-support and science experiments," it said. "Nuclear power has the potential to dramatically increase the duration of future Lunar missions and their scientific value."
Rolls-Royce is set to work with a range of organizations on the project, including the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Nuclear AMRC, and the University of Oxford.
