Because such an aircraft's range would not have been limited by liquid jet fuel, it was theorized that nuclear-powered strategic bombers would be able to stay airborne for weeks at a time.

[1] In May 1946, the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project was started by the United States Army Air Forces.

[2] The first modified B-36 was called the Nuclear Test Aircraft (NTA), a B-36H-20-CF (Serial Number 51-5712) that had been damaged in a tornado at Carswell AFB on September 1, 1952.

This plane was redesignated the XB-36H, then the NB-36H and was modified to carry a 1 megawatt,[3] air-cooled nuclear reactor in its bomb bay.

[1] A large, 350 ft (110 m) wide hangar was built at Test Area North, part of the National Reactor Testing Station (now part of the Idaho National Laboratory; Monteview) to house the X-6 project, but the project was canceled before the planned 15,000 ft (4,600 m) runway was built, necessitated by the expected weight of the nuclear-powered aircraft.

[10]General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era