5 ms·
Ah yes the 1950s! When we thought we needed nuclear-powered long-range bombers that could stay in the air for months at a time as part of the deterrent. The USA
by acidburnNSA 5y ago
Ah yes the 1950s! When we thought we needed nuclear-powered long-range bombers that could stay in the air for months at a time as part of the deterrent. The USAF spent a good $10B 1950's dollars on this concept and funded some incredible reactors like the Aircraft Reactor Experiment [1] and the Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments [2] (which you can see yourself if you're ever driving through Idaho).
The ARE was interesting in that it was the world's first molten salt fueled reactor.
Once Kennedy shut down the propulsion program (because ICBMs had been developed and we didn't need nuclear-powered planes anymore), the reactor expertise from this program at Oak Ridge led directly to the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), which to this very day fuels all the excitement about thorium reactors and molten salt reactors.
Interestingly, China is just about finished building their version of the MSRE, called TMSR-LF1 [3], and is supposed to start testing it in a month or two.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion#Heat_Transfer_Reactor_Experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion#He...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TMSR-LF1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TMSR-LF1
- agency 5y agoTruly a golden age of absolutely insane nuclear projects, like Project Pluto[1], a proposed nuclear-powered ramjet that could theoretically cruise around for weeks or months before being directed to a target. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
- arethuza 5y agoPluto looks quite sensible compared to Gnomon and Sundial - 1Gt and 10Gt bombs respectively (yes Gt not Mt): http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/09/12/in-search-of-a-bigger-boom/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/09/12/in-search-of-a-big... Edit: Fortunately the development of these devices didn't get too far advanced.
- mcguire 5y agoOne would be remiss not to remember Project Orion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propuls...) and Project Plowshare (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare). :-)
- Someone 5y agoRumor has it Russia is developing such a system today (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik) Of course, you never know whether that’s wishful thinking by the Russian and/or US military. The Russians may exaggerate how far they are in order to increase deterrence, and the Americans may exaggerate in order to get the money to get even bigger toys)
- pfdietz 5y ago> insane nuclear projects Like LAMPRE, a reactor that used molten plutonium! https://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/03/burning-metal-part-1.html https://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/03/burning-metal-part...
- _joel 5y agoThe Chinese have been developing it for about a decade now, I think it's the first one to go to production, not just test.
- acidburnNSA 5y agoIt's definitely a test reactor. You can see some program overview here [1]. This thing that's coming online is the 2020 several MW test reactor, not the 100 MW power demo. [1] http://irfu.cea.fr/Meetings/seminaires-MSR/4_Programme%20Chinois%20MSR_js.pdf http://irfu.cea.fr/Meetings/seminaires-MSR/4_Programme%20Chi...
- neither_color 5y agoIt's too bad this wasnt explored further, there could be non-weaponized use cases for a nuclear powered aircraft that can stay in the air for days or months at a time.
- marcosdumay 5y agoAs a rule, if a design is deemed too risky to use in times of war, it's probably unsuitable for civilian usage too. I'm sure there are exceptions, but nuclear aircraft does really not look like it would be one.