Overview
- Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy directed NASA on July 31 to appoint a Fission Surface Power program executive within 30 days, issue RFPs within 60 days and award contracts in six months for a late-2029 reactor launch.
- The planned reactor will generate at least 100 kW of continuous power—enough to run a small Earth subdivision—and ensure electricity through the Moon’s two-week nights.
- NASA’s FY 2026 proposal sets aside $350 million for lunar fission power, rising to $500 million in FY 2027, even as the agency faces overall funding cuts and workforce reductions.
- Russia and China have announced a joint lunar reactor project for the mid-2030s, intensifying the U.S. effort to secure strategic territory and potentially create exclusion zones under the Outer Space Treaty.
- Shares of Oklo, NuScale Power and BWXT surged after Duffy’s announcement, reflecting investor confidence in small-modular reactor developers.