A retired Air Force general has issued an alarming warning after China confirmed its plan to build a nuclear plant on the moon.
It was recently revealed by the nation that it intends to build the plant in order to support a permanent research station that China hopes to construct alongside Russia.
And bizarrely, the site that has been mapped out for these plans are on the moon.
This is part of the country’s Chang’e-8 mission, which has been scheduled for 2028, where China also hopes to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and eventually construct a permanently manned base.
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In a presentation last month led by the chief engineer of the Chang’e-8 mission, Pei Zhaoyu, alternative power sources for the moon were detailed, including huge solar arrays as well as cables and pipes to bring heat and electricity to the proposed base.
However, one former Air Force general has now raised the alarm over the proposals after he claimed that China has already begun mining helium-3 from the moon.
While the form of helium gas is rare on Earth, it’s estimated by NASA that the moon has at least one million tons of it.
It’s believed by experts that this could act as a nuclear energy provider in a fusion reactor and Kwast has fears that China might monopolize the element.
During an appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show, Kwast said: “If we were to mine the moon for helium-3, at the current level of electricity use... we could power the energy needs of the human race for thousands of years based on the helium-3 that’s on the moon right now.
“Let’s take the scenario where China now has enough helium-3 as they’re mining it on the moon and bringing it back to Earth to be able to power the entire world for thousands of years.
“They are the ones that can actually operationalize quantum because they can cool it down to the temperature it needs to actually operate.”
He went on to add: “When you start combining those three quantum capabilities - sensing, computing, communication - and you can affordably cool it down to the levels where it can be operationalized, now you’ve broken every code that ever was. I don’t care how good your encryption is. They see every secret, every code, everything.”
Kwast fears that if China gets its hands on the element, the nation could be able to break any code in the world.
He continued: “Space is the place where if America does not change our strategy and how we’re investing in space, we will become victims to others that use space as a way of dominating the energy market but also the information market.”