Nuclear Powered Aircraft

The potential for a nuclear-powered aircraft to provide global persistence and reach, measured in months while consuming no petroleum fuel, seems alluring and worthy of pursuit. However operating requirements for such an aircraft, in addition to established political hurdles after Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents, will limit the scope of a nuclear-powered aircraft program, if not eliminate the idea completely. By analyzing the potential uses of nuclear-powered aircraft against the legal requirements, the USAF can narrow its limited research and development investments in manpower and materiel to those technologies with the greatest opportunity for employment. This paper assumes a future security environment requiring attributes such as global range, persistence combined with ever rising fuel costs due to fuel scarcity.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.