

Tour the Tomb of NASA’s First and Last Nuclear Reactor - bcl
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/plum-brook-nuclear-facility/

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stickfigure
They actually built and ran those nuclear-powered jet engines! The two test
beds are sitting in front of the EBR1 building near Arco, ID. I happened by it
on the way home from a very long motorcycle trip:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/lhoriman/3763287997/in/set-7215...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/lhoriman/3763287997/in/set-72157621750944722)

They ran the engines on the ground, and ran the reactor in the plane, but
never had the reactor hooked up to engines in a plane. It would have been a
horrible idea; to save weight, airflow ran through the reactor core, spewing
radionuclides out the exhaust and contaminating everything it flew over. Not
to mention the mess a crash would make.

More information here:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion>

~~~
jlgreco
> _spewing radionuclides out the exhaust and contaminating everything it flew
> over. Not to mention the mess a crash would make._

Disturbingly, iirc, both of those things were considered to be "features" of
the Project Pluto weapon: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto>

~~~
InclinedPlane
<http://www.merkle.com/pluto/pluto.html>

~~~
mturmon
Holy guacamole, there's a connection of this monster to Coors beer.

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tsuraan
_Current regulations bar NASA from building or researching fueled nuclear
devices_

I'm not sure what the author means here, but the Mars Curiosity Rover (on its
way to Mars right now) is powered by a nuclear device (an RTG). Maybe NASA
just isn't allowed to pursue the (real) project Orion-type spacecraft anymore?

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civilian
Cherenkov radiation is so freaking cool.
[http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/plum-brook-
nuclear...](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/plum-brook-nuclear-
facility/?pid=4023)

