Russian Specialists Develop Small Modular Nuclear Reactors for Space and Arctic Exploration

Russian specialists have developed small modular nuclear reactors that can be used for exploring deep space, launching into orbit, and researching the Arctic, said Ilya Chekh, the general director of the Borders of Science research and technical guild.

"One of the projects that is currently functioning and developing in our group - the serial modular nuclear reactors, which are accordingly produced in the form factor of a seacan," he said. "The task is very interesting - to conduct a kind of revolution with relatively small sources of nuclear energy of 170 megawatts of electrical power, which is generally sufficient for a small city, including a lunar one," Chekh noted at the session during the Innoprom-2026 international forum.

At the moment, a small team of physicists has designed such an unit, and the specialists' task is to put the development into serial production with an optimal plan to create one reactor per day. Small modular reactors can be used for sending to the Moon, orbit, exploring the Arctic, and distant deposits, including in cooperation with China and the United States in terms of exploring deep space, Chekh emphasized.

"I am confident that we will be the first to make such reactors. And we already have interested investors and partners who are ready to invest in this and develop this direction. Historically, the nuclear industry has remained the strongest sector in Russia. Nuclear energy in space is the stage that we need to go through in order to generally venture into deep space," the expert added.