On 18–23 October 2026, at the SKIF-2026 conference in Novosibirsk, Russian Academy of Sciences Vice-President Stepan Kalmykov endorsed small nuclear power plants for the Moon, citing their established terrestrial operation and reduced refuelling requirements.[1][10] Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev previously stated that a lunar power unit is targeted for the mid-2030s; specifications presented in March 2026 called for at least 5 kW and a 10-year service life.[1]
A 5 kW unit would support basic infrastructure, scientific instruments, communications, thermal control, and robotic operations, but would not by itself power a large settlement. Its principal survival value is continuity: nuclear generation can bridge the approximately 14-Earth-day lunar night, when temperatures can fall to about −150°C, reducing dependence on oversized batteries or vulnerable solar-only systems.[8] A decade-long design life also enables persistent archives, maintenance automation, and gradual expansion, while introducing reactor-safety, launch-failure, radiation, heat-rejection, and political-dependency risks.
The Ark team should track Rosatom, Roscosmos, and Kurchatov Institute milestones, especially the Selena prototype planned for 2032, the proposed mid-2030s deployment window, verified power output, fuel and shielding architecture, autonomous restart capability, and demonstrated lunar-night performance.[6][9] Ark engineering studies should model a reactor-supported microgrid with redundant solar generation, energy storage, passive-safe shutdown, distributed archive nodes, and at least 10 years of unattended operation.