Photo: Chen Xiao
The US ambition to build a nuclear power plant on the moon by 2027, which could contribute to future lunar military projects, shows that it seeks space supremacy, regardless of the damage and dangers it can cause to people, said Chinese military experts and international.
The establishment of a nuclear power plant on the moon by the end of 2027 has been included in a number of specific objectives in a memorandum signed Wednesday by US President Donald Trump, which is known as the Space Policy Directive 6 (SPD-6). The plant would “support a sustained monthly presence and exploration of Mars,” said SPD-6.
Military targets are likely to be behind the institution, said Chinese military expert and commentator Song Zhongping.
By setting up a nuclear power plant, which includes the exploitation of nuclear materials and the construction of equipment such as nuclear reactors and uranium enrichment facilities, the United States could theoretically turn the moon “into a nuclear weapons production site,” Song told the Global Times on Friday.
The moon is rich in helium-3, a material that could be used as fuel to produce energy through nuclear fusion, Song said. In the name of building a nuclear power plant, the US could directly exploit this material on the moon and then build nuclear fuel processing plants there, he said.
The plan once again shows US unilateralism in space, which goes against the international community’s will on lunar issues, said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China’s University of Foreign Affairs.
Earlier, the Trump administration proposed an “Artemis agreement” in May, which suggests “safe zones” surrounding future monthly bases, in an attempt to prevent damage or interference from rival countries and companies.
The agreement blatantly ignores the international consensus that outer space, including the moon, is a “common use of all,” Li said. “Whether it is to build a nuclear power plant and exploit the resources on the moon does not depend only on the United States,” he told the Global Times on Friday, saying the United States should take its plan to the United Nations first.
“Worse, the United States would commit a crime against humanity if it caused damage to the ecology and monthly geology through nuclear weapons tests,” Song said.
As Chang’e-5 completed its monthly trip on Thursday, the signing of the SPD-6 also shows the US intention to shoot China into a space race, trying to draw China’s attention to an endless consumption of national resources for race. improving people’s economy and livelihoods, Li said. This is similar to what the United States did to the Soviet Union in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” program, he noted.
Its goal of building a monthly nuclear power plant, however, could hardly be achieved in time by 2027 as the US is stuck in internal problems and chaos, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Li said.