3 ms·

Funnily enough, molten salt reactor were developed for this specific purpose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment https://en.wikipedia.org

Funnily enough, molten salt reactor were developed for this specific purpose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment

ceejayoz 3y ago
With some very scary designs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
- dmoy 3y ago
  > deliver them with greater accuracy than was possible with intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) at the time and, unlike them, could be recalled. hold up, what Launch the nukes, abort the launch, and then have the nukes... fly back to base, and land safely without exploding. Right I get that there's fail-safes for the warheads, but that seems definitely scary, I agree
  - krisoft 3y ago
    No, I'm afraid you are mistaken what is scary about these. People have "launch the nuke, abort the nuke, fly back to base and land safely without exploding" already. That is called a nuclear armed bomber. The scary thing about these is that their propulsion is a nuclear reactor. You know how in a jet engine the air is heated up by burning fuel? Here the air is heated up by comming into contact with the reactor. They exhaust fission products while they fly. To quote from the page: "The other major problem with the SLAM concept was the environmental damage caused by radioactive emissions during flight, and the disposal of the reactor at the end of the mission. Merkle estimated that about 100 grams of fission products would be produced, which would be dispersed over a wide area." This thing is by design, when nothing goes wrong leaves a contrail of radioactive contamination behind it. And when things go wrong it leaves even more contamination. And the funny thing is, the Russians are still experimenting with this tech: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik And predictably as they were trying to scope their test wreckage from the sea floor they managed to have a radiation incident with it in 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyonoksa_radiation_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyonoksa_radiation_accident (As you can read the exact circumstances are disputed, but I believe this is the most likely explanation of what we have seen.)
  - dotnet00 3y ago
    The SLAM missile it was designed for was scarier than just that. It was to be able to fly supersonic close to the ground for months at end and could be modified to bleed radioactivity into the exhaust. So not only would it nuke several cities, it would then deafen, kill and/or radiation poison with its flyovers.
    - NikkiA 3y ago
      When you absolutely must demonstrate how much 'the good guys' side you are.
      - dylan604 3y ago
        when freedom is rained down, there are multiple forms of precipitation it can arrive
    - nomel 3y ago
      That sort of power density is just absolutely mind boggling.

Funnily enough, molten salt reactor were developed for this specific purpose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment

ceejayoz 3y ago

With some very scary designs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto

dmoy 3y ago
> deliver them with greater accuracy than was possible with intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) at the time and, unlike them, could be recalled. hold up, what Launch the nukes, abort the launch, and then have the nukes... fly back to base, and land safely without exploding. Right I get that there's fail-safes for the warheads, but that seems definitely scary, I agree
- krisoft 3y ago
  No, I'm afraid you are mistaken what is scary about these. People have "launch the nuke, abort the nuke, fly back to base and land safely without exploding" already. That is called a nuclear armed bomber. The scary thing about these is that their propulsion is a nuclear reactor. You know how in a jet engine the air is heated up by burning fuel? Here the air is heated up by comming into contact with the reactor. They exhaust fission products while they fly. To quote from the page: "The other major problem with the SLAM concept was the environmental damage caused by radioactive emissions during flight, and the disposal of the reactor at the end of the mission. Merkle estimated that about 100 grams of fission products would be produced, which would be dispersed over a wide area." This thing is by design, when nothing goes wrong leaves a contrail of radioactive contamination behind it. And when things go wrong it leaves even more contamination. And the funny thing is, the Russians are still experimenting with this tech: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik And predictably as they were trying to scope their test wreckage from the sea floor they managed to have a radiation incident with it in 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyonoksa_radiation_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyonoksa_radiation_accident (As you can read the exact circumstances are disputed, but I believe this is the most likely explanation of what we have seen.)
- dotnet00 3y ago
  The SLAM missile it was designed for was scarier than just that. It was to be able to fly supersonic close to the ground for months at end and could be modified to bleed radioactivity into the exhaust. So not only would it nuke several cities, it would then deafen, kill and/or radiation poison with its flyovers.
  - NikkiA 3y ago
    When you absolutely must demonstrate how much 'the good guys' side you are.
    - dylan604 3y ago
      when freedom is rained down, there are multiple forms of precipitation it can arrive
  - nomel 3y ago
    That sort of power density is just absolutely mind boggling.