April 11, 2021

The Nuclear Car Story

In the 1950s, as the Cold War was heating up and children were being urged to “duck and cover” from nuclear weapons, car companies seriously proposed powering their cars using lead-lined nuclear reactors. It seems like madness today, but while the world saw the threat of nuclear war, they also saw the seemingly limitless potential from nuclear power. Just how were these vehicles supposed to work and how far did they get to reality?

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_submarine

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-longest-time-a-submarine-can-remain-underwater-given-the-state-of-technology-today

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/sanders1/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ford-nucleon-1957-nuclear-powered-112050842.html

https://gtspirit.com/2012/04/08/remarkable-cars-ford-nucleon-‒-the-atomic-car/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard

https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/general-studebaker-specific-discussion/32428-57-studebaker-packard-astral

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Seattle-ite_XXI

Original Ford Seattle-ite XXI brochure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Tremulis

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/is-a-nuclear-powered-car-in-our-future/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLrt_38LR3A

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