America's Lone 'Nuclear-Powered' Bomber: Convair NB-36H

In this video, we talk about the closest the American military came to having a nuclear-powered aircraft, the Convair NB-36H. We talk about the origins of the program back in the 40's with testing on nuclear engines. We also discuss the primary purpose of the NB-36H in how it tested the feasibility of having a nuclear reactor on an aircraft. We then talk about how the project aimed to advance into a fully nuclear-powered aircraft and how that aim never came to fruition.

[lancerevell]

In the 1950s a model company even marketed a scale model using actual radioactive material! It was quickly banned and taken off the market.

[pseudotasuki]

The indirect concepts had an additional advantage: the reactor and engines were effectively decoupled from each other. The reactor would still be in the fuselage, but an assortment of engines could be located almost anywhere simply by running a coolant loop there. That's particularly important when the lack of fuel tanks would place more stress on the wing roots.

[XNOGaming_One]

Given the regular "lost nuclear weapons" /"Broken Arrow"-Events back in the day, this would have been insane. Imagine these things crashing in populated areas and acting like a dirty bomb, contaminating everything. I love this.

[restitvtororbis]

I agree that nuclear powered flight is as probably an order of magnitude more hazardous than it is cool (and it is pretty cool) but i don't think ALL forms of nuclear powered transportation should be written off. A very significant percentage of fossil fuel use goes into maritime shipping, and large cargo ships are easily the most logical next step for replacing fossil fuels with nuclear energy. There have been nuclear powered carriers and submarines for decades, and there has already been a civilian cargo ship made with nuclear power decades ago as well (I forgot the name, but Mustard made a doc on it) and the only reason it didn't catch on was because ports would deny entry because of concern over the nuclear reactor. It has been about half a century since maritime nuclear power became a thing and the technology is likely mature enough to make it safe enough to attempt again

[Placeholderdo]

Cool idea in theory. Another problem i could see would be the amount of maintenance involved in keeping a plane airworthy would be impossible while the plane is still flying, thus limiting the time it could stay flying.

[cnfuzz]

This was nothing compared to project Pluto, a nuclear powered ramjet from the early 60s that had the duty to make everything radioactive in it's trajectory

[rchassereau]

Good video, really enjoying your channel

[OgreOnSprue]

Yeah New Vegas is definitely the one to go with

[vipertwenty]

Excellent video but you missed out a very important part of the story - you might even be unaware of it:

During the latter part of the project an entirely new technology was being developed to bypass the dangers of uranium reactors - Thorium reactors.

The Thorium reactor can, unlike a Uranium reactor, be made to be fail-safe. This technology had reached a fairly advanced stage of development when the whole project was cancelled, ending thorium reactor research along with it. Thorium reactors are totally useless for nuclear weapons because they cannot make the necessary U235 and Plutonium needed for weapons and the civilian potential was completely overlooked. India and China are now taking the lead in this technology and China *will* gain enormous worldwide influence as a result - something the free world really doesn't want.


Not only a missed opportunity at the time but an opportunity that still to this day continues to be overlooked. China's gain, the US's loss.

[JO-chel]

I would say it's ONLY because of unwarranted fear and lack of understanding that is keeping nuclear energy from being more widely adopted. Storage of spent fuel is a non-issue when you factor in all the benefits. The world is burning and we need a solution today and not in 50 years. Sorry for going off topic but it's something I feel very strongly about.

[The_CGA]

I guess the more obvious (to me) option of just powering turboprops with electricity from a reactor or RTG just wasn’t technologically on the table yet…

I think the Soviets tried it later

[MajikPPMan]

Can't help but think what the world of travel would be like today if they had of kept working on this technology.

Great video though so thank you!

[thurin]

i hope the aircrew went out and got unofficial wings with a big nuclear symbol between the wings.

[aceswild]

Interesting concept would be a nuclear stealth bomber such as the b21 raider

[firstcynic]

Not only were there nuclear powered cars:

There were also nuclear powered trains:

And busses:

😂

[lancaster]

I bet Ace Combat fans are screaming Nuclear Power Aircraft that carries other Aircraft at the screen.
The is a Diaclone toy out next year called "Cloud Across" that reminds me of that idea as it also doesn't have to land for months either.

[lancerevell]

Worst problem is the possibility of the nuke bomber being shotdown, spreading fallout far and wide. The ultimate "dirty bomb"! Just not a well thought out idea.

[comentedonakeyboard]

For maximum effect the plane should crash (in enemy territory) after delivering the nuke.

[ErnestImken]

If the NB-36 crashed, what would they do about the radiation?

[dalenmonroe]

Nuclear power, great idea! nuclear powered transportation, stupid idea. Understandable why people want to harness it to its very limits but human beings as we are make it an awful idea solely because of how accident prone of a species we are. Its an amazing energy generator that we are ignoring for no good reason other than the fear mongering that has been left over since the major Chernobyl accident and Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in Japan (easily avoided if they placed their backup diesel generators ABOVE sea level by at least 150 feet, or 50 meters) Both of those were negligence while 3 mile island melted down the way it was designed to IF it were to go critical that would minimize damage to its surroundings, which it did, PR was just a nightmare...
Not even mentioning the fact its far more sustainable than solar panels and wind turbines (ill give newer magnet style ones props for being a lot better but still a serious waste of steel when thinking about the modularity of newer reactors and the next generation of SMR style reactors)