Large Nuclear-Powered Subsonic Aircraft for Transoceanic Commerce (1971) [pdf]

[ipnon]

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19710028801/downloads/19710028801.pdf

[acidburnNSA]

And if you like that pdf you're going to love this declassified and recently digitized film: https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-02-03-declassified-nucle...

[JKCalhoun → acidburnNSA]

That's a very cool video (direct link: https://youtu.be/V-8q8INxQEY)

Had the pleasure to see the nuclear engines (intended for bombers) described in the video when road-tripping through Idaho some years back.

Go for the Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 but stay and have a picnic near a pair of hulking relics of the Cold War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion

[emmelaich → JKCalhoun]

Great video - but where did the bit at the end (from @30:07) with the swimsuit clad girls come from? The original?

[acidburnNSA → emmelaich]

Yes it was in the original! I left it in because I thought it was weird and interesting.

[orbital-decay]

A 3600-ton aircraft with a 340m wingspan (900 ton for a small, less commercially viable version). Must have been fun to study, but you can imagine why it wasn't feasible regardless of being nuclear-powered.