The potential for nuclear as a power source was well known. If you read the Farm Hall transcripts [1] there are several conversations in the vein uranium engin

The potential for nuclear as a power source was well known. If you read the Farm Hall transcripts [1] there are several conversations in the vein uranium engine vs uranium bomb; they all knew a uranium engine was possible and was the original research, but the war drove them to a uranium bomb. From section 5: "History will record that the Americans and the English made a bomb, and that at the same time the Germans, under the HITLER regime, produced a workable engine." [1] http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/English101.pdf http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/English101.pdf