美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)获得的美国运输部长兼代理美国国家航空航天局行政长官肖恩·达菲(Sean Duffy)发布的一项指令显示，月球上的核电对美国的太空探索和国家安全目标至关重要，美国政府应该在地面竞争对手之前“迅速行动”，在月球上建造反应堆。
月球上一个完整的“日”是两个星期的光明，然后是大约两个星期的黑暗(地球时间)。根据达菲的说法，核能，在指令中被称为裂变表面动力，或FSP，是一种“可持续”和“高功率”的能源，可以在月球的夜晚生存，并被部署在其他天体上，如火星。
达菲在周二的新闻发布会上说:“我们正在进行登月竞赛，与中国进行登月竞赛。”。“要在月球上建立基地，我们需要能源。在月球上的一些关键位置，我们将获得太阳能。但是这项视觉技术非常重要，所以我们已经投入了数亿美元进行研究。”
“我们能做到吗?我们现在要超越学习，我们正在努力，”达菲继续说道。“我们已经指明了前进的方向。让我们开始部署我们的技术，让它成为现实。”
当ABC新闻联系到美国国家航空航天局进行评论时，他说，“我们会让这些指令自己说话。”
这份日期为7月31日的指令要求在30天内任命一名“裂变表面动力项目执行官”，他将实施和监督该项目，并将直接向美国国家航空航天局行政长官报告。它并没有说月球上的核反应堆到底会提供什么动力。
“自2024年3月以来，中国和俄罗斯至少三次宣布共同努力，在2030年代中期在月球上放置一个反应堆，”达菲在指令中说。“第一个这样做的国家可能会宣布一个禁区，这将极大地阻止美国建立一个计划中的阿耳忒弥斯存在，如果不是首先存在的话。”
政治是第一个报道这个指令的人。
达菲在同一天发布的第二项指令旨在加快国际空间站替代品的开发，该空间站将于2030年退役。
虽然美国国家航空航天局从未在太空中使用过裂变核反应堆，但自20世纪60年代以来，它一直在使用核材料为航天器提供动力。这些系统被称为放射性同位素热电发电机，或RTG，利用钚-238(一种核元素)衰变产生的热量为航天器和漫游车提供动力。目前，美国国家航空航天局在火星上的好奇号火星车使用RTG系统作为动力。
近年来，已经花费数十亿美元开发一种新型核反应堆，称为小型模块化反应堆(SMRs)。这些反应堆产生的电力比传统反应堆少，但体积也小得多。SMR在美国仍处于开发阶段，目前还没有投入运行的装置。
“每个人都知道月球的某一部分是最好的。那里有冰，那里有阳光。达菲周二表示:“我们希望第一个到达那里，并声称这是为了美国。”。
US should put nuclear reactors on moon before other countries do, acting NASA administrator says
Nuclear power on the moon is critical to the United States' space exploration and national security goals, and the U.S. government should "move quickly" to build reactors there before its terrestrial rivals, according to a directive issued by Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, which was obtained by ABC News.
One full "day" on the moon is two weeks of light followed by approximately two weeks of darkness (in Earth time). Nuclear energy, referred to as fission surface power, or FSP, in the directive, is a "sustainable" and "high-powered" energy source that can survive through the lunar night and be deployed on other celestial bodies, like Mars, according to Duffy.
"We're in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon," Duffy said at a press conference on Tuesday. "And to have a base on the moon, we need energy. And some of the key locations on the moon, we're going to get solar power. But this vision technology is critically important, and so we've spent hundreds of millions of dollars studying."
"Can we do it? We are now going to move beyond studying, and we are going," Duffy continued. "We have given direction to go. Let's start to deploy our technology, to move to actually make this a reality."
When reached for comment by ABC News, NASA said, "We'll let these directives speak for themselves."
The directive, dated July 31, calls for a "Fission Surface Power Program Executive" to be named within 30 days, who will implement and oversee the project and will report directly to the NASA administrator. It does not say what exactly the nuclear reactors would power on the moon.
"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," Duffy said in the directive. "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."
Politicowas the first to report on this directive.
A second directive, issued on the same day by Duffy, aims to speed up the development of replacements for the International Space Station, which is set to retire by 2030.
While NASA has never used a fission nuclear reactor in space, it has been using nuclear material to power spacecraft since the 1960s. Known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, these systems use the heat generated by the decay of plutonium-238, a nuclear element, to create electricity for powering spacecraft and rovers. Currently, NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars is using an RTG system for its power.
In recent years, billions of dollars have been spent developing a new kind of nuclear reactor called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). These reactors produce less power than traditional reactors, but are significantly smaller in size. SMRs are still being developed in the U.S. and there are no units currently in operation.
"There's a certain part of the moon that everyone knows is the best. We have ice there, we have sunlight there. We want to get there first and claim that for America," Duffy said Tuesday.
