This Idea Will Never Fly -- Nuclear Jet Engines at Idaho National Laboratory, Arco, Idaho Baby Onesie

Once upon a time, in 1947, someone thought it would be a good idea to use that new-fangled atomic power for a creative new purpose. After all, the Russians were working on it, and we couldn't let the Ruskies get ahead of us.

And so, in the early to mid 1950s, HTRE-2 (modified from HTRE-1) and HTRE-3 were created to test the theory of a nuclear powered jet engine for a long-range bomber. Air would be taken in from the front of the engine as in a regular jet engine, but instead of mixing with jet fuel it would be routed up though the piping, through the reactor to be superheated and expanded, then channeled back through the engine's exhaust to provide thrust. About $1 billion was spent on the nuclear aircraft project (over $8.5B in today's money) before it was eventually canceled by President Kennedy in 1961.

HTRE-2 (left) and HTRE-3 (right) are on display at the Experimental Breeder Reactor I Historic Landmark near Arco, Idaho.

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