Overall, public sentiment is highly skeptical and critical of the plans for a nuclear reactor on the Moon, with many commenters expressing frustration over the prioritization of such projects amidst pressing issues on Earth like healthcare, poverty, and infrastructure. Concerns about environmental impact, high costs, and the practicality of the initiative dominate the discussion, with repeated calls for focusing efforts and resources on urgent problems at home.

NASA

U.S. Government

Scientific Community

The following submission statement was provided by /u/TheExpressUS:

---

Secretary of Transportation [Sean Duffy](https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/162382/transport-secretary-sean-duffy-cockpit) is expected to announce expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon in what a senior [NASA](https://www.the-express.com/news/space-news/174680/nasas-voyager-spacecraft-discovered-wall) official called a bid to "win the second space race."

---

 Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1mhv44m/nasa_to_announce_plans_to_build_nuclear_reactor/n6z09jk/

FuturologyBot

&gt;The first country to have a reactor could “declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,” the directive states, according to POLITICO

Ah.  There's the real reason.

Red_Icnivad

I look around the world at the multiplying crises that threaten to overwhelm our future and I think, “if only the moon had nuclear power.”

naileyes

Man if we’re gonna blow this much money can we at least get a Gundam

Awingbestwing

Can't have universal healthcare, but sure.. A reactor on the moon, why the fuck not?

deadcom

With what budget? Can we send ICE to the moon since they’ve got billions to burn?

Detox208

With the cut billions of dollars and 4000 employees who just left? 

I was dismissive of the idea we'd go to the moon this decade, but hopeful it would happen by 2030-2031. Now the next flag planted on the moon by a human with be China's.

zephyy

“Watch for Hurricanes? Nah. Not like we’ll do anything about it anyway.”

Gunningham

My guess is they will just land an RTG and claim "mission acomplished".

Tropical_Geek1

Feel that China will get three working ones here before US even starts actually doing anything.

manyouzhe

Please don't tell me some knuckle head watched For All Mankind and thought this was a good idea. Because that's what it sounds like. 🤦‍♂️

Darklord_Bravo

A secret military base on the moon would be a good place to hide the Epstein list.

RLewis8888

The real question is, are they going to train nuclear physicists to be astronauts or take a bunch of astronauts and teach them nuclear physics?

yet-again-temporary

With what budget?  With what personnel?  Since DOGE and the Big Bullshit Bill, I cannot believe this plan is an earnest goal.  Instead, this seems more like a bombastic headline grabber to try to suck oxygen out of the ongoing Epstein-Trump dot-connecting everyone is FINALLY doing.  Trump is a pedo.  Release the unredacted files in full.

I_Enjoy_Beer

They’re totally going to accidentally blow up the moon, aren’t they?

ElderSmackJack

sweet, so how to they plan to keep the reactors within operating temp or they also ignoring the science of that?

Wingzero02

Didn't they literally just gut NASA's staff and budget?

BowlEducational6722

Bold plan when you consider that NASA doesn't even have enough money to build a lawnmower in a garage.

ChesterNorris

With what funding, and what scientists, though? Clowns thrash the entire US academic apparatus and then act like they can do a Kennedy and just declare they will do things in space.

eggnogui

I’ll believe it when they land another person on the moon again first.  And, with their current defunding, that’s going to be third Tuesday of never.

Craxin

Doesn't this sort of require a moon base with a staff? This all seems very, very dumb.

xRockTripodx

So would we be shopping water off the planet to the moon?

pebbleproblems

So they're going to spend money to put a reactor on the moon while simultaneously closing their cafeterias so their smart people can't eat lunch.  /BRILLIANT!!

Inquisitor_ForHire

… with what money? Didn’t you just cut NASA’s budget by eleventy-billion dollars?

IamMe90

So many people are going to die for absolutely jack shit

pulyx

And how are they planning to get it up there? An ACME catapult? Because they aren't launching any rockets to the moon with axing they got.

Xyrus2000

This title is so weird I'm afraid to read the article to find a weird justification of building a nuclear water heater on the space body that is known for its lack of water.

CV514

After this administration gutted NASA and other things to make America less competitive?  Good luck

tacotickles

We’ve reached the Bond Villain phase of this administration. Next we’ll hear about a secret base inside a volcano surrounded by a moat full of sharks with friggin’ laser beams on their heads.

omgirthquake

"The first country to have a reactor could “declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,” the directive states, according to POLITICO"

So they are going to build the reactor in order to keep the Epstein files there?

Bicentennial_Douche

Nuclear reactors for off-Earth bases is going to be a given for any long term habitation.  Sure, you can have solar power as well, but just like on Earth you want to have a wide range of power generation options.

Plus, any potential base on Mars that is long term will pretty much have a mandatory need for a nuclear reactor.  Mars can have MONTHS long dust storms, making solar panels unreliable in inclement weather.

cylonfrakbbq

Well we're gonna something to throw the alien / emperor into at the end of the movie

lohivi

Is that where they are going to store Epstein files?

xortingen

I really think that this feels like a plan Gru has come up with

I am expecting the flip chart meme at any moment

twovectors

Because... solar panels would be too easy? 

The low gravity would make produced solar panel on the moon even more efficient due to the better cristalisation process environment.

MrPrivateObservation

Could we just get affordable Healthcare amd education that won't bankrupt us

Thugl1fe91

Show of hands who wants to live on the moon? Live on Mars? Personally I like breathing air, walking barefoot on grass, bird watching, driving to and fro. Being able to eat food that isnt freeze dried whatevers.drinking water. Living in reality. Spending billions of dollars,wasting the time and money to even dream of such nonsense is nuts. If anyone wants to claim land no one owns on the dark side of the moon, too late pink Floyd beat ya too it, at least they made something out of the moon worth listening to, made money off of and own the rights too. The moon,mars, if they can get there let em have it. As of yet, can't even get a lunar to land safely. .. why would anyone let a fox newsreporter interm at that. Decide that uranium should be shuttles to the moon. China and Russia will do and say anything to get us to waste billions of dollars just to say they did.

NervousSchedule7472

Thats all well and whatever but how the fuck do they plan to get the power back down to earth where the actual customers are? Do they think that many people are going to live on the moon?

DolliGoth

What about the Epstein files? Will that be on the moon?

mishdabish

SpaceX is sure to get a nice, fat contract to do all of it. NASA is a shell of its former self.

Otterz4Life

Secretary of Transportation [Sean Duffy](https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/162382/transport-secretary-sean-duffy-cockpit) is expected to announce expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon in what a senior [NASA](https://www.the-express.com/news/space-news/174680/nasas-voyager-spacecraft-discovered-wall) official called a bid to "win the second space race."

TheExpressUS

Can’t imagine how they’ll accomplish this when they’re driving a brain drain across the country

peskyghost

Create a "The Running Man" show on the moon. The contestants? Our wealthiest elites. That TV show would shatter records.

Capt_Murphy_

Sounds like the plot of a super villain  

Where is Scorpio when we need him?

In all honesty, these idiots can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. Very low expectations.

Bullmoose39

"Bridge to nowhere"?  nah eff that,  we got a "Nuclear reactor on the moon"!!

pentultimate

Meanwhile people literally just want food and healthcare

Bananacream3141592

I didn't know a new season of Space Force came out.  Sucks none of the original cast stayed around.

Lint47

Do you know how many nuclear reactors are lost to the sea, buried in glaciers (really), or just abandoned?

More than zero for each of those... and that's scary.

Next, the moon?

ExiledUtopian

We need more of those on earth to offset the data centers. Electric rates keep rising due to demand that outstrips supply and the need for infrastructure upgrades

i_am_voldemort

Isaac Asimov would have written a novel like "Chernobyl In The Dark Side of the Moon".

TheDerangedAI

“We choose to put a nuke on the moon by the end of this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because I am hard.” -Sean Duffy, probably

manbeardawg

The more I see stories out of the current administration I move between Idiocracy and now...that scene....from the 2002 release of The Time Machine where the "mining of the moon" does bad things....

They slashed NASA's budget and yet have the gall to do this

Purple_Patience_3300

Oh Hell, Let's Just Do What We Always Do – Hijack Some Nuclear Weapons And Hold The World Hostage, Yeah? Good.

MASTER_SUNDOWN

It’s amazing to me that any conscious human with an IQ above 70 can watch FOX News and believe it’s anything but awful badly presented fiction.

literalsupport

Who gave NASA the "*rights*" to build something on the Moon?

General_abby

These guys can't build a reactor in Florida. America is losing and losing badly.

bluddystump

Since we're already in the insanity of anything goes, why not try a space elevator. Aren't they theoretically possible with technology now? Couldn't do it before because of regulations,  but nobody cares about that anymore. 

Aloysiusakamud

Step 1) cut all the budgets.
Step 2) announce plans for the most expensive power plant in history. 

Fucking genius. 

fredandlunchbox

Didn’t they just cut NASA’s funding greatly? With what money do they think they will accomplish a world first?

badguy84

Hooray! That will solve inflation, racism, unemployment, and the wholesale gutting of the government and science! That will truly make Murrica Great Again!

DrColdReality

There are already RTG's on the Moon from the Apollo missions.  Guessing this is what happens when you have a media figure incharge of NASA instead of someone with an actual education.

tbryant2K2023

Why do I suddenly have a nostalgic desire to watch old episodes of Space:1999?

usesbitterbutter

This is a good idea because if there is a meltdown, the damage will be localised to the moon and the Earth will continue as normal.

JTG01


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AutoModerator

There's no race.  Literally the one idiot appointed to NASA by Trump said "we should do this acinine thing."

It's pointless, wastes a pile of money, and will die immediately after Trump's term end...or sooner at midterms if Republicans lose legislative control. 

It, like most other things Trump is doing is solely to create projects to bid out at absurd funding to companies that have no right to do any of the work that will be shell companies that magically pop up overnight to be the contact winners and then will simply funnel tax payer cash out of the government right into wealthy hands.

Some seem to forget this already happened during Trump's first term, but he's ramping it WAY up the instant Republican lead Congress have full control of the Congressional purse.  

My bet right now is if this continues for the full 4 years, Trump will be capable of funneling out north of $1 trillion dollars (tax payer dollars) from Congressionally allocated budgeting and programs that used to benefit societal programs.  Not anymore.  Now it's just tax payer straight into the pockets of the rich. 

All of this crazy stuff is a good ol' fashioned criminal shell game.  We're just forced to buy into it through both income tax and now immense amounts of tariff taxation.  Every individual American is going to lose thousands, actual thousands of dollars from this. 

A nuclear reactor is just one of the many shell games being played with our money right now.

mvw2

Good thing we are simultaneously gutting NASA and creating a brain drain of scientists due to idiotic cuts......

Also I hate that America is exporting their hegemonic nonsense into space too.

Just do a joint venture with everyone FFS: Russia, China, EU, US

NOLA-Bronco

If you were to tell me in the late 90s that a MTV real world cast member was the head of NASA and the Trump was President I would have thought you were bananas.  

We are bananas.

FlyingMonkeyDethcult

Alternate headline: Why the US is racing the start the biggest slushfunds of the 21st century

Nothereforstuff123

Why TF did u/wiredmagazine post a link to the Wired Magazine website that's behind a paywall?

revchewie

Now list all the reasons it won't happen just like why we won't go to Mars any time soon.

These projects are meant to be skimmed and never completed.  They aren't building shit.  They're just making sure all the ghouls are well funded.  Just like the OG New York mobsters.

OiMyTuckus

Where’s DOGE when you need them? Oh right. Elon stands to make another fortune being the official moon stuff Uber. Big. Ass. Government. Wasteful. Spending.

BadAtExisting

NASA is fast-tracking a plan to build a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 under a new directive from the agency’s interim administrator Sean Duffy.The plan revives a decades-old dream of scaling up nuclear power in space, a shift that would unlock futuristic possibilities and test legal and regulatory guidelines about the use of extraterrestrial resources and environments.

Duffy, who also serves as President Donald Trump’s secretary of transportation, framed being first to put a reactor on the lunar surface as a must-win contest in a new moon race. “Since March 2024, China and Russia have announced on at least three occasions a joint effort to place a reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s,” said Duffy in the directive, which is dated July 31.“

The first country to do so could potentially declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States from establishing a planned Artemis presence if not there first,” he added, referring to NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land humans on the moon in the coming years.

The directive laid out a roadmap to design, launch, and deploy an operational 100-kilowatt reactor to the lunar South Pole within five years that would be built with commercial partners (for comparison, 100-kilowatts could power about 80 American households). While the specs are, well, speculative at this point, 100 kilowatts represents a dramatic power boost compared to the basic nuclear generators that fuel Mars rovers and space probes, which typically operate on just a few hundred watts, equivalent to a toaster or a light bulb.

Read more: [https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-is-racing-to-build-a-nuclear-reactor-on-the-moon/](https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-is-racing-to-build-a-nuclear-reactor-on-the-moon/)

wiredmagazine

Because it's a stupid idea (like pretty much every idea this administration has).

ithinkitsnotworking

because wasting money on performative bullshit is what America wants.

Bawbawian

TheCharalampos

To try and distract the public from trump being a child rapist?

yourpseudonymsucks

So the pres can steal more money.  Its literally all hes doing.

ScoobyD00BIEdoo

Because Epstein files. It's stupid to write an article trying to rationalise his retarded harebrain ideas.

Kayrehn

Our Space Agency is run by a former Road Rules contestant……..

Latter-Possibility

Extinction00

Night on The Moon is 14 days long. That is why. Yes, most things we see are an attempt at distraction. This, in contrast, is a nothingburger. The reason there had not yet been any reactor on the moon, is no one had aimed for sustained presence. If you wanted sustained presence, you need fission.

gordonmcdowell

nakedcellist

Because if the Chinese do it, no one else but them are ever going to the moon again.

Prestigious_Pie9463

[Nuke the moon](https://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm)?

AmidTheSnow

They really want to race to the dark side of the moon

sunflowercompass

They’re gutting NASA. How are they racing for anything?! Racing for self-destruction 🙄

OhSoBlue1

Sounds familiar. Every couple of years, there's an initiative to get a moon base built or a nuclear reactor in space. The idea always gets shelved for the same scientific reasons, but nobody learns their lesson and nobody wants to hear what problems previous generations of engineers ran into.

Launching a nuclear payload into space is absurdly risky, for the reason that no country wants to deal with the mess if a load of radioactive fuel exploded on the launch pad, or disintegrated a couple of minutes into the flight. The US Air Force experimented with a nuclear powered aircraft in the 1960s, and succeeded in getting a small fission plant running on a converted bomber. However, they were so terrified about what would happen if it crashed that all test missions were conducted with a convoy of clean-up aircraft following it at all times.

The whole idea of a moon base has been bandied around since the 1970s as a logical successor to manned landings, and it always gets nixed as useless. You can't really use the moon as a stepping stone to explore further outwards towards planets because orbital dynamics don't work that way. If you want to go to Mars, you have to use an absurd amount of fuel slowing down so the Moon's much weaker gravity can catch you. It's easiest just to skip the Moon altogether, unless you are slingshotting around it for a gravitational assist. To this day, no probe we have ever sent to a planet has landed on the Moon first.

cerberaspeedtwelve

BeeWeird7940

techie's on the moon. and we still have no healthcare.

turb0_encapsulator

SingleAlfalfa6278

Br0ken-F1ange

To pump trumps dick... errr ego i meant...

grungegoth

The irony is that we have a good planet here, perfectly suited for human inhabitation… if we could just not screw it up.

lesmainsdepigeon

There are hundreds of victims listed in the Epstein files. That's why it took 1,000 FBI agents a few months to redact the incriminating evidence.

DruidicMagic

If he's fleeing to an imaginary power plant on the moon, I can only guess all of them

Uckwit_Fay

If the size of the coverup is equal to the number of victims….. it’s a huge number.

Doublebosco

it seems he touched a lot..but he's also touched a lot of adults and they can't seem to see that either!! which is just as worrying and dreadful.

Zestyclose_Low_3522

Release the files not the pedofile

Pardon Maxwell = Pardon Epstein

Release the Trump Maxwell Epstein files 

Feel free to share with others :)

Hello-Angel

So since this is the only place I don't have to worry that ranting about how dumb this idea is will distract from the Epstein files: *holy shit*, is this the dumbest idea ever.

Transporting enough fissile uranium / plutonium to the moon to run the reactor is a logistical nightmare. You can't launch of it at once, because if the rocket blew up Central Florida would become uninhabitable. 

(Yes, I know Trump doesn't care about human life-- but Mar-a-Lago would be at the edge of the exclusion zone, so you think he'd care about his property prices tanking if nothing else.)

Also? I'm pretty sure we don't even have any rockets powerful enough to transport a payload that heavy to lunar orbit, lmao.

So you'd have to break it up into chunks small enough not to cause a nuclear disaster if the rocket blows up. Which means spreading it out over dozens, if not hundreds, of launches. 

And that's just for the fissile material! You'd need even *more* launches to get the equipment for the reactor itself, and the equipment you'll need to assemble the reactor, to the moon.

So just the launch costs for this crazy scheme would be in the tens of billions of dollars, if not higher. 

And that's before you include the cost of the reactor equipment itself. Or the equipment you'll need to assemble the reactor. Or the robots you'd need to operate the assembly equipment. 

Or the R&amp;D costs you'd need to invent those robots, because *they don't exist right now*!

Honestly, R&amp;D on just the robots is gonna take at least a decade. There's zero chance this project gets even close to its first launch date before Trump's term is over.

(You might be tempted to say screw the robots, let's "just" send humans. Well, since it's going to take your human crew months to assemble the reactor, that means you'll need to build a moon base. You'd be committing to effectively an Apollo programs' worth of investment to get that moon base up and running. The robots? They're actually the *less* time and resource intensive of your two options!)

I think we've pretty firmly established this just an excuse for contractors to grift at this point.

But let's say the admin does the impossible and gets the damn thing up and running. 

**NOW WHAT?!?!?**

Because nuclear reactors generate a fuckton of power that *needs* to go somewhere, or they melt down. There's no electrical grid on the moon to aborb that much power. You'd need a moonbase the size of a city to absorb that much power.

So even if, against all odds, they get their reactor up and running, it's just going to push itself into meltdown within a few hours of being switched on.

AnnikaSkyeWalker

NASA plans to establish a nuclear reactor on the Moon to support a sustainable human presence, reflecting a new era in space exploration and energy development.

Nuclear Reactor on the Moon

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