Ah yes the 1950s! When we thought we needed nuclear-powered long-range bombers that could stay in the air for months at a time as part of the deterrent. The USAF spent a good $10B 1950's dollars on this concept and funded some incredible reactors like the Aircraft Reactor Experiment [1] and the Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments [2] (which you can see yourself if you're ever driving through Idaho).
The ARE was interesting in that it was the world's first molten salt fueled reactor.
Once Kennedy shut down the propulsion program (because ICBMs had been developed and we didn't need nuclear-powered planes anymore), the reactor expertise from this program at Oak Ridge led directly to the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), which to this very day fuels all the excitement about thorium reactors and molten salt reactors.
Interestingly, China is just about finished building their version of the MSRE, called TMSR-LF1 [3], and is supposed to start testing it in a month or two.
The ARE was interesting in that it was the world's first molten salt fueled reactor.
Once Kennedy shut down the propulsion program (because ICBMs had been developed and we didn't need nuclear-powered planes anymore), the reactor expertise from this program at Oak Ridge led directly to the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), which to this very day fuels all the excitement about thorium reactors and molten salt reactors.
Interestingly, China is just about finished building their version of the MSRE, called TMSR-LF1 [3], and is supposed to start testing it in a month or two.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Reactor_Experiment
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion#He...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TMSR-LF1