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The Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program and the preceding Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project worked to develop a nuclear propulsion system for aircraft. The United States Army Air Forces initiated Project NEPA on May 28, 1946. [ 1 ]
The development of nuclear-powered submarines and ships, and experiments to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft at that time kept the idea alive. [25] Russian papers in the mid-1950s reported the development of a nuclear-powered car by Professor V P Romadin, but again shielding proved to be a problem. [ 26 ]
The first operation of a nuclear aircraft engine occurred on January 31, 1956 using a modified General Electric J47 turbojet engine. [5] The Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program was terminated by President Kennedy after his annual budget message to Congress in 1961. [1] The Oak Ridge National Laboratory researched and developed nuclear aircraft ...
"They know that this is the hallmark of technology for propulsion on aircraft carriers." The first American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was USS Enterprise , commissioned in 1961.
The Convair NB-36H was an experimental aircraft that carried a nuclear reactor to test its protective radiation shielding for the crew, but did not use it to power the aircraft. Nicknamed "The Crusader", [1] it was created for the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program (ANP for short), to show the feasibility of a nuclear-powered bomber. [2]
Shortly to follow in utilizing nuclear technology was the aircraft carrier. Commissioned in 1961, the USS Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The first production class of nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is the Nimitz class. Ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in total were produced with all remaining in active duty.
Aircraft Reactor Experiment during assembly showing BeO moderator blocks interlaced with circulating fuel tubes. The Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) was an experimental nuclear reactor designed to test the feasibility of fluid-fuel, high-temperature, high-power-density reactors for the propulsion of supersonic aircraft.
The Convair X-6 was a proposed experimental aircraft project to develop and evaluate a nuclear-powered jet aircraft.The project was to use a Convair B-36 bomber as a testbed aircraft, and though one NB-36H was modified during the early stages of the project, the program was canceled before the actual X-6 and its nuclear reactor engines were completed.