![\"Moon](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_248599061-451e.jpg\")
\n\t\tChina, Russia and the US are in a new Space Race as they seek start permanent bases on the moon (Picture: Robert J Evans\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tChina, Russia and the US are in a new Space Race as they seek start permanent bases on the moon (Picture: Robert J Evans\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
China<\/a> plans to build a nuclear power plant on the moon<\/a> to fuel a research station it intends to open with Russia<\/a> there, a senior official confirmed.<\/p>\n No Chinese astronaut has ever set foot on the moon \u2013 but within 10 years China aims to have a permanent lunar base on its surface.<\/p>\n From there the \u2018Inernational Lunar Research Station\u2019 (ILRS), China hopes to launch manned missions to other planets.<\/p>\n \u2018An important question for the ILRS is power supply\u2019, Wu Weiren, chief designer of China\u2019s lunar exploration program, said this week.<\/p>\n \u2018In this Russia has a natural advantage, when it comes to nuclear power plants<\/a>, especially sending them into space, it leads the world, it is ahead of the United States.\u2019<\/p>\n But the USA has its own plans in motion. The only country to land people on the moon, the US hasn\u2019t sent a mission there since 1972.<\/p>\n Now it wants to land two astronauts on the moon\u2019s surface in 2027, with a proposed base to follow later.<\/p>\n \t\t The USA\u2019s history in space is long, but China has made rapid progress this century.<\/p>\n China\u2019s Shenzhou 5 mission in 2003 made it only the third country with that ability.<\/p>\n A decade later it landed the Chang\u2019e 3 robotic rover on the moon. Then China sent once to Mars<\/a>, which he plans to send humans to by 2033.<\/p>\n If China does manage to build a nuclear power plant on the moon, it could open up new doors for space travel.<\/p>\n Yury Borisov, former head of Russia\u2019s Roscosmos, said last year: \u2018This huge, cyclopean structure would be able, thanks to a nuclear reactor and high-power turbines, to transport large cargos from one orbit to another, collect space debris and engage in many other applications.\u2019<\/p>\n One of the reasons countries are competing to gain a foothold on the moon is the natural resources they could exploit there, according to Royal Museums Greenwich.<\/p>\n The moon is believed to contain deposits of metal oxides, silicon, titanium, rare earth metals and aluminium \u2013 plus enough helium-3 to \u2018solve humanity\u2019s energy demand for around 10,000 years\u2019, according to one of China\u2019s top lunar scientists Ouyang Ziyuan.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"International](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_194630925-9c0f.jpg\")
\n\t\tA mock-up of what the International Lunar Research Station could look like on the moon(Picture: China National Space Administration)<\/p>\n
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