Rolls-Royce Is Building A Micro Nuclear Reactor: Here's How It Plans To Use It

For most people, the name Rolls-Royce inspires images of automotive opulence. For those in aviation, aerospace, and defense, the name is synonymous with powerful aircraft engines and out-of-the-box ingenuity. The engines company, separate from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, is now looking to break new ground on the energy front via the Rolls-Royce "Micro-Reactor," which it has been developing alongside the UK Space Agency. According to Rolls-Royce's website, it's closer than ever to making the Micro-Reactor a reality.

The company has also been developing small modular reactors ("SMR") as part of its nuclear portfolio. However, unlike those powerful, static devices, the Micro-Reactor is specifically designed to be mobile, while still producing anywhere from one to 10 megawatts of power. If Rolls-Royce's claims are accurate, the Micro-Reactor will continue providing safe, sustainable energy under extreme conditions.

Given the Micro-Reactor's groundbreaking design and potential real-world applications, it should be no surprise that Rolls-Royce's plans for the powerful device are beyond ambitious. Per the company's promotional video for the Micro-Reactor, those plans may even include powering an outpost on the lunar surface.

It will understandably be a while before Rolls-Royce and the UK Space Agency can set up shop in space. That is in no small part because humans have yet to make a long-term surface dwelling on the moon. Given that Rolls-Royce likely won't have a working prototype for the small nuclear reactor ready to roll until 2029, humanity still has a few years to catch up. The Micro-Reactor could play as significant a role in propelling residents to the moon as it could providing clean heat and power to a lunar colony. 

Rolls-Royce does have a few more practical uses for the Micro-Reactor here on Earth before it can take us to the moon. First and foremost, the company believes the device could be pivotal in the defense plans of the United Kingdom, providing power to central and mobile bases of operation, while helping the Defense program approach a net zero energy agenda. On top of that, Rolls-Royce believes the Micro-Reactor could be a legitimate game-changer in providing clean, renewable power to more isolated civic communities.

Rolls-Royce also claims the Micro-Reactor could power an entire Earth-bound industrial complex without putting strain on existing infrastructure. Frankly, if Rolls-Royce delivers on the promise of its micro-sized nuclear reactor, it could be a world-changing sort of innovation. If the Micro-Reactor makes life on the moon possible, the question becomes how much farther into the cosmos the technology could take us.