Russia is working on plans with China on ways to deliver and install a nuclear power plant on the Moon by 2035, the head of Russia’s space agency said.

“Today we are seriously considering the project,” Yury Borisov, general director of Roscosmos, said during a Tuesday lecture to students, according to the Moscow-based Interfax news service.

The nuclear power plant would need to be built remotely using robots, he said.

Solar panels would not be able to provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlements, he said, while nuclear power could.

"This is a very serious challenge... it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans," he said of the possible plan.