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>> I didn't cover tanks but did touch on nuclear-powered aircraft IIRC, this idea resurfaced in the early 2000s for long-lived drones, but were terminated due

• acidburnNSA 6y ago
  Not sure about the resurfacing, but the concern is legitimate. When you're splitting atoms to get heat, the leftover smaller atoms have what's called nuclear afterglow. This afterglow is most hazardous the moment the reactor stops and slowly becomes less hazardous with time. In any case, a nontrivial fission power reactor vaporizing in atmo would be akin to atmospheric nuclear weapons tests from a radiological hazard POV. We've done stuff like that before in remote areas, but no one thinks it's a good idea. To do it again, we'd have to basically convince ourselves that no matter what shot the plane down, the radiation containment system would survive the hit and the crash.