about 965 kW (0.965 MW) of power, and the living quarters requiring about 3 kilowatts of power per person (72 kWh per day) which equates to about 30 kW of power for the 12 person crew that is described (360 kWh per day). On an aside, a kWh is a kilowatt-hour, which is the amount of energy consumed by a device over a course of time. The 3kW per person translates to (3kW)*(24 hours/day) = 72 kWh. Another component of the base, besides the living quarters and the mining and production facility will be the many experiments being carried out on the moon. The nuclear power plant will be used mainly to power the regolith mining and processing because of the massive amount of power needed perform these tasks. This will require a nuclear power plant capable of generating at least 965 kW of power when the mine and production facility will be in operation. Such a power station would need to be isolated from the inhabited sections of the base so as to limit radioactive contamination. The most economical way to shield such generator from harming life forms would be to shield it with regolith, and allow only those with proper protection to access the plant for supervision, maintenance, and repairs. The solar cells will need to be folded packed in such a way to minimize their volume for ease of transportation, and since the solar cells will be powering the vital functions of the base, there will need to be backup generators or batteries to supply the base with power should the solar grid fail altogether (which is not very likely because of its size).
about 965 kW (0.965 MW) of power, and the living quarters requiring about 3 kilowatts of power per person (72 kWh per day) which equates to about 30 kW of power for the 12 person crew that is described (360 kWh per day). On an aside, a kWh is a kilowatt-hour, which is the amount of energy consumed by a device over a course of time. The 3kW per person translates to (3kW)*(24 hours/day) = 72 kWh. Another component of the base, besides the living quarters and the mining and production facility will be the many experiments being carried out on the moon. The nuclear power plant will be used mainly to power the regolith mining and processing because of the massive amount of power needed perform these tasks. This will require a nuclear power plant capable of generating at least 965 kW of power when the mine and production facility will be in operation. Such a power station would need to be isolated from the inhabited sections of the base so as to limit radioactive contamination. The most economical way to shield such generator from harming life forms would be to shield it with regolith, and allow only those with proper protection to access the plant for supervision, maintenance, and repairs. The solar cells will need to be folded packed in such a way to minimize their volume for ease of transportation, and since the solar cells will be powering the vital functions of the base, there will need to be backup generators or batteries to supply the base with power should the solar grid fail altogether (which is not very likely because of its size).
v2_PROPOSAL_FOR_THE_DEVELOPMENT_OF_A_SUSTAINABLE_LUNAR_BASE.docx