building materials are abundant on the Moon, and good quality construction materials are available there. However, establishment of a transport system from the Earth to the Moon is essential. Feasible transport systems are chemical-fueled shuttle thrusters between the Earth and the relay satellites, space planes for the transport of people, and shuttles powered by ions, electricity, solar heat, nuclear power, or laser (laser, of course, being supplied from the LEP) for the transport between the relay satellites and the Moon. The construction sites for LEP will be at the polar regions of the Moon, from which a line of sight to the Earth is always available. The Moon has the same cycle period of its self-rotation as that of revolution round the Earth, and thus only at the poles is communication with the Earth always available. Thus, laser transmission of energy will always be possible. Since there is no atmosphere on the Moon, meteorites from space strike unimpeded. To avoid meteorites, the residential area has to be constructed underground. The heat radiating parts of nuclear reactors are exposed so it is necessary to provide protective shielding against small meteorites. For large meteorites, it will be necessary to constantly monitor them by radar and destroy them by laser. Program for LEP Development and International Cooperation The LEP is still at the conceptual stage. There are many factors to be examined, for instance, competitiveness with other types of energy, or estimation of the cost for realization of the concept. A great number of problems exist - realization of ultrahigh-efficient energy conversion system based on the FGM concept, construction of nuclear reactors in space, particularly the new type reactor, space robots, large-output highly-efficient laser generating equipment, laser-receiving equipment, safety monitoring technology for laser transmitted from the relay satellites to electricityreceiving equipment on Earth, and space mass transport system at ultra low cost. To realize such a grand program, international cooperation is essential, and the consensus of many countries is also necessary. Hereafter, we will intensively examine the LEP concept in more detail and establish a research committee for mapping out the development program. Furthermore, we will seek the participation in the LEP development program not only of scientists at home and abroad in the fields of nuclear power engineering, space engineering, materials engineering, optical communication engineering, resources engineering, but also scientists in the fields of economics, environmental engineering and international laws. Acknowledgments The authors thank professor H. Arashi of Tohoku University and Dr. K. Haga of Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Dev. Corp, for helpful discussions. References
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