Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion

[1] NEPA operated until May 1951, when the project was transferred to the joint Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)/USAF ANP.

The end result is that instead of using jet fuel, an aircraft could rely on the heat from nuclear reactions for power.

The General Electric program, which was based at Evendale, Ohio, was pursued because of its advantages in simplicity, reliability, suitability and quick start ability.

This program involved a great deal of research and development of many light-weight systems suitable for use in aircraft, such as heat exchangers, liquid-metal turbopumps and radiators.

It used the molten fluoride salt NaF-ZrF4-UF4 (53-41-6 mol%) as fuel, was moderated by a hexagonal-configuration beryllium oxide (BeO), and had a peak temperature of 860 °C.

The purpose of the experiment was to experimentally verify the theoretically predicted nuclear properties of a PWAC reactor.

Numerous test facilities were funded and constructed through the 1950s and 1960–61 in order to produce a flight-worthy nuclear power unit, including one at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

While the ARE successfully demonstrated operation of a MSR concept, the program was canceled by President Kennedy on March 26, 1961[2] citing the high cost with no flight-worthy reactor having been produced up to that point[5] – "15 years and about $1 billion have been devoted to the attempted development of a nuclear-powered aircraft; but the possibility of achieving a militarily useful aircraft in the foreseeable future is still very remote".

Also contributing to the cancellation was that the first intercontinental ballistic missiles entered into active service in September 1959 which all but eliminated the need for a nuclear-powered aircraft as a strategic deterrent.

[11] The result of the proposal was direction from the Atomic Energy Commission for ORNL to design, construct, and operate the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE).